Journey of the King: The Will of D
by I Ate Your Muffin
Summary: How far are you willing to go to accomplish your dreams? How far are you willing to push yourself to reach your goals? Monkey D. Luffy's dream is to find One Piece and become the Pirate King and there a very few things he's not willing to do in order to accomplish that. This is his journey. AU. SmartLuffy. LogiaLuffy. Luffy/Harem.
1. And So It Begins

**Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda. Any other none original concept belongs to their respective owners. It's also fitting that the longest chapter I have ever written is for a One Piece fanfiction. Curiously enough, it's probably the fastest none one-shot chapter I have ever written too. My muse works in strange ways, I tell you.**

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 **Chapter One: And Now It Begins**

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 _There was once a great pirate who possessed everything this world had to offer. Fame. Wealth. Power. He had it all. His name was Gol D. Roger. His were all the treasures that existed. Such was his influence that his last words sparked the start of a new era._

 _As he kneeled on the execution platform, Gold Roger grinned uncaringly as he looked at the gathered crowd. "My treasure? If you want it, you can have it! I left it all in that place! Find it! Everything this world has to offer, One Piece…"_

 _That day the world entered the Great Era of Piracy._

 **.o0O0o.**

Monkey D. Luffy was a seven-year-old kid with jet black hair and dark gray eyes that looked black if you weren't looking closely. He was standing on the deck of a ship as he glared at the grown men in front of him, all of which were looking at him with amusement. That angered him since he felt that they were always mocking him, making fun of him and didn't take him seriously.

He might be a kid but he was strong enough to shatter wood with one punch. His grandpa had taught him how to train his body before he left to do whatever it was that he did about one year ago and with nothing better to do, Luffy spent most of his time exercising. That meant that at the very least they shouldn't dismiss him in so carelessly.

With a growl, Luffy picked up a knife that was laying around and walked until he was standing a few feet away from red haired man that was wearing a straw hat and had three scars going across his left eye. Luffy glared up at him with determined eyes. "I've had enough! I'll prove to you that I'm tough enough to become a pirate and head out with you!" He declared, raising the knife above his head.

Shanks, the red-haired man, eyed the knife wearily for a second before he laughed and grinned down at Luffy. "Dahahahaha! Go for it! Let's see what you are going to do!" Despite his words and the grin on his face, Shank's eyes never left the knife that Luffy was holding.

"Oh, look. Luffy is going to do something funny again!" Said one of the crewmembers loud enough for everyone to hear which resulted in all the other men laughing as they turned towards Luffy with expectant look on their faces.

Luffy gritted his teeth at the sound of their laughter before his hold around the handle of the knife tightened and he twisted his wrist and brought it down towards his face. He closed his eyes in preparation for the pain, ignoring the abrupt stop of the laugh of the other pirates as he did so, only to not feel pain exploding from his face. Instead, he felt a calloused hand wrapping firmly around his wrist and he opened his eyes, flinching when he saw that the knife was just a few inches away from puncturing his eye, surely to damage it irreparably forever.

"You idiot!" Shouted Shanks as he quickly took the knife away from Luffy's hand and then punch him over the top of his head, sending him sprawling to the floor of the deck and making a huge bump appear where he hit him. "You could've gouged your eye out, you know? What possessed you to that, Luffy?!"

With tears gathering at the corner of his eyes, Luffy looked up at Shank from his position on the floor. "I just wanted to show you that I have what it takes to become a pirate like you! I'm tired of being scooped up in this good for nothing island!"

Shank's expression softened and with a sigh he picked Luffy up by the scruff of his neck and set him on his feet. "You are still too young, Luffy. Maybe in a few years down the line, if you are strong enough, I'll take you with me if you still want to, deal?" He proposed, carefully hiding how impressed he was with the kid. Not even members of his own crew were willing to harm themselves in such a manner just to prove a point. _'Say what you want about this kid, but he's got guts alright.'_

Luffy perked up at that and he nodded his head vigorously as he tightened his tiny fist and flexed his arms. "Deal! I'll be sure to train extra hard from now on! And if you don't take me with you then I'll set out on my own and become a bigger pirate than you, Shanks!"

Shanks could only laugh at this, the rest of his crow joining in.

Luffy only glared at them in anger and indignation. "Oi, shut up! Stop making fun of me!"

 **.oO0Oo.**

A few hours later Luffy, Shanks and his crew were at Party's Bar, the only bar in Foosha Village. They were all just having a good time, with Shanks and his crew eating, drinking and teasing Luffy who, despite hating how they made fun of him, genuinely enjoyed their company. Other than Makino, the pretty dark-green haired girl that tended to the very bar whom he would occasionally help with her chores in exchange for food, he had no one else to spend time with.

Luffy was currently grumbling and pouting petulantly as he sat on a stool. He had to deal with Makino scolding him for attempting to do something as reckless as stabbing himself. He promptly ignored Shanks once again making fun of him, this time about the fact that Luffy was not that good of a swimmer yet. When Shanks was finished, Luffy turned towards him with glare. "So, what if can't swim yet?! I'll just stay on the ship! Besides, I'm plenty strong! I've been training a lot! My punch is strong as a pistol fire!"

"Dahahahaha!" Laughed Shanks as he looked down at Luffy. "Is that so? Are you willing to prove it?"

"Of course, I am!" Shouted Luffy, gathering the attention from everyone else, before jumping down from his stool and getting into a fighting stance as he nodded his head. "I never say that I can do anything without being able to back it up!"

With another laugh, Shank set his glass of booze on the counter and stood from his stool and crouched down so he was at a similar height with Luffy. He raised one hand and showed him his open palm. "Go ahead then! Show me if your punch is strong as a bullet. I'll be the judge to that!"

Everyone looked on as Luffy got a serious expression on his face as he stared hard at Shanks' hand. After a short moment he cocked his fist back and shouted at the top of his lungs as he brought his arm forward, his fist in a direct collision path Shanks' palm: a precision that Shanks noted to be oddly high for a kid his age. His eyes widened, however, when for a second he felt Luffy's arm being coated by Busoshoku Haki just before it connected with his palm.

Shanks expertly hid the wince of discomfort that threatened to show on his face. No matter Luffy's age and current strength, being hit by a punch powered by armament haki without being enhanced himself hurt. It also didn't matter that even without enhancing himself he was still quite tough. _'He is only seven years old and he is already showing signs of being able to use the Busoshoku! He said he's been training but what are the odds of him somehow performing the kind of training needed to unlock it?'_ He exchanged a look with his crew, all of whom looked a bit more serious now, and they nodded to confirm that they also felt what Luffy obviously unknowingly did. With one look, he told them to leave it to him. They promptly went back to goofing around as if nothing had happened.

"Oh, that was quite the punch, Luffy! I actually felt that!" He said with laugh, downplaying it easily and enjoying the annoyed expression on Luffy's face. "Who taught you how to do that by the way?" He asked nonchalantly.

Luffy jumped towards his stool before answering. "Eh, gramps taught me how to train my body before he left. He told me to do everything on the instructions books he left me and that I better be stronger by the time he comes back or he'll introduce me to his 'Fist of Love', whatever that is."

Shanks almost made a double take. _'Is Garp really teaching Luffy how to use Haki?! No. That can't be. As crazy as that overpowered old man is, he wouldn't dare teach a seven-year-old Busoshoku. It being a thing of chance and proof of Luffy's innate talent makes more sense.'_ He quickly schooled his expression and laughed. "Then you better start training harder! I've heard about your gramps. He's supposed to be very scary, that Monkey D. Garp."

Luffy nodded his head. "Will do! And yes! Gramps is very scary! Everyone except for the mayor and Makino-nee hides away whenever he is in town. It's pretty funny, actually," said Luffy with a laugh before perking up in happiness as Makino put a plate full of food in front of him along with a glass full of juice. "Thank you!" He beamed up at her brightly which resulted in Makino giggling and ruffling his hair fondly.

Shanks laughed again. "Dahahahaha! You are such a kid! It's hilarious!"

Luffy was too busy devouring the delicious food in front of him to pay attention to Shanks. So focused was he that he didn't even noticed when the door of the bar was forcefully opened by a tall dark skinned and black-haired man with a scar on his forehead and a goatee who began to mock Shanks and his crew. Instead, after finishing his meal and still feeling hungry, Luffy opened the chest that Shanks had brought with him knowing that it contained more food, and he perked up when he saw a big, yellow fruit that was vaguely pear shaped with jagged blue lines going down its length.

Luffy promptly shoved the entire thing into his mouth and grimaced when the incredibly sour flavor hit his taste buds. He bravely continued to chew since his hunger more pressing than the foul taste of the fruit and swallowed after a few seconds. He made a disgusted face. _'Yuck! That tasted worse than Gramps' soup and that's saying something! At least I'm not hungry anymore.'_

Luffy's thought were interrupted when he heard the sound of glass shattering and he turned towards the source only for his eyes to widen when he saw Shanks covered in sake while a man sneered at him. Makino gasped and she was looking on with wide, shocked eyes.

"Just who do you think I am, you dumb pirate?!" asked the man mockingly. "Don't make fun of me! One bottle isn't enough!"

Shank completely ignored the man, instead focusing on the floor. "Oh, man… why did you do that? The floor is all wet now." He ignored how the man pulled out his wanted poster and began to brag about his bounty, the amount of people he has killed and the things he had done in the past, picking up a piece of the bottle and turning towards Makino, an apologetic expression on his face. "Sorry about the mess, Makino-chan. Do you have a mop?"

"Ah! It's alright! I'll clean it up!" She stammered nervously.

The man, Higuma, clicked his tongue in annoyance and he pulled out his sword. Luffy saw this and his eyes widened when he saw that Shanks wasn't apparently paying attention, meaning that he was going to be killed by this bandit. So, not wanting for the person he looked up to the most to get hurt, he jumped forward to stand in front of Shanks as Higuma brought his sword down in a diagonal arc. "Don't you dare hurt Shanks!"

"Luffy!" The red-haired pirate shouted and his eyes widened in horror when he saw the sword approaching Luffy's shoulder. He knew that even with his skills he would have been unable to stop it before it was too late since he had not expected for Luffy to jump in front of him like that. Not even Higuma, whose eyes had widened in surprise as well, had expected it but he made no motion to stop his attack either showing that he cared not about the fact that he was about to murder a child.

So, everyone was understandably shocked speechless when they saw Higuma's sword go through Luffy, yellow arcs of lightning appearing as the sword apparently cut him clearly in half only for the two halves to join back together pulled back by snapping tendrils of lightning. Luffy also noticed this and he screamed in shock at the sensation of being cut in half and it not hurting only to feel how he was put back together. This resulted in him released a blast of lightning in Higuma's direction. Higuma's eyes only had time to almost bug out of his head before he screamed in pain as thousands of volts of electricity shocked him at almost point-blank range.

Even Shanks was shocked a bit, but he was made of sterner stuff and he barely flinched, and that was because he was wet in the first place, as a few arcs of lightning reached him. _'Oh, please don't tell me…'_ he trailed off in shocked horror as he turned towards the chest that contained that Devil Fruit they had found in Birka when they were exploring the Sky Island as they were making their way to East Blue in order to take a break from the ridiculously and absurdly dangerous waters of the New World.

The smell of burnt ozone filled the bar along with the smell of cooked meat as Higuma fell to the ground on a heap. His skin darkened many shades further and his entire body twitching as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. The other bandits could only look on in horror as their leader was beaten and most likely killed if how his body suddenly stopped twitching and laid eerily still on the floor.

Shanks gave his crew a sharp look as he stood up, seemingly ignoring Makino's horrified gasp as she looked at Higuma's body. His crew nodded back at him and they quickly moved to incapacitate Higuma's minions before they tried to escape, or worse, attempt to harm Luffy in revenge for him accidentally killing their leader, which Shanks knew that it would only end in them sharing Higuma's fate.

There was no way in hell that smalltime bandits like them had access to Kairoseki (Seastone), much less Busoshoku Haki, which were the only ways to physically restrain and/or harm Luffy now that he ate a Logia-Type Devil Fruit.

Luffy stared at the burnt and very dead body of Higuma. His expression was blank but his entire body was trembling. He raised his hand and he looked at them, flinching when sparks flew from them. "What… I didn't mean… no… this…"

Shanks put a comforting hand on Luffy's shoulder, making sure to coat it with Busoshoku Haki so as not to get hurt by Luffy's new power, and he smiled grimly at him. "Calm down, Luffy. It might have been an accident but what is done is done. Even thought it was unintentional, you killed him in order to protect me. You want to be a pirate, right? Killing is a fundamental part of it, but remember, it only should be done in order to protect what's important to you, be it a person, something you cherish or your dream. It get's easier the more times you do it, but it should never be enjoyed. Do you understand, Luffy?" He squeezed his shoulders, trying to convey the seriousness of his words.

Luffy had a few tears in his eyes and he gulped when he realized that Shanks was being one hundred percent serious for perhaps the first time since he met him and nodded his head. Shanks smiled at him and nodded, ruffling his head. "Now, I want you to be honest with me Luffy. Did you eat the fruit that was one that chest?" It was obvious that he did, but he still needed Luffy to come clean about it.

Luffy shuffled nervously from one foot to another, not noticing how Shanks' crewmates swiftly dealt with the other bandits and began to take them away and out of the bar. "Uhm, yeah. I did. I was still hungry and I saw Lucky Roo putting that fruit on that chest and bringing it down. Why do you ask? Does it have to do something with what I did to that guy?" He asked before pointing at Higuma's body but refusing to look at it.

Shanks sighed in annoyance. _'That fat-ass will be on twenty-four cleaning duty for the next decade! Still…'_ He trailed off as he looked down at Luffy, remembering what he had seen today, and an excited grin appeared on his face. The sight of it scared Luffy for some reason. _'If this kid's potential was huge before, I am pretty sure now it is nigh immeasurable since he ate the Goro-Goro no Mi (Rumble-Rumble Fruit). I can't let this opportunity go to waste!'_

Shanks waved him off. "It does but don't worry about it for now, Luffy. I'll tell you tomorrow. Meet me at the docks at eight o'clock in the morning. I'm going to teach you how to control your new powers so you don't accidentally kill someone you don't want to. And we don't want that, right?"

Luffy paled and rapidly shook his head. Even that resulted in a few small arcs of lightning flying away randomly from his body. After seeing this, Luffy stood perfectly still.

Shanks laughed and he again ruffled Luffy's hair. "Go home, Luffy. Make sure to have a good night's sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be tough so it would be in your best interest to get as much rest as you can!" Shanks laughed again when Luffy wordlessly nodded and bolted out, a few arcs of lightning leaving his body to strike against the street harmlessly as he did so. When Luffy was out of sight, Shanks sobered up and he turned towards Higuma's body. "Now, what to do with you?"

A few seconds later he grinned.

 **.o0O0o.**

"Oi! Shanks!"

Said red-haired pirate looked up and grinned when he saw Luffy running towards him and sparks were flying from his body as he approached him. He waved at him in greeting. "Hiyah, Luffy! Did you sleep as much as you could as I told you to do? Remember, it's gonna be real tough for you from now on."

Luffy stopped running once he reached him and grinned up at Shanks, who noticed that his smile wasn't as wide as usual. "Eh, I think I did. I couldn't sleep at first because of… well, you know. But I eventually fell asleep when my body couldn't help it anymore. I don't feel tired to be honest. I feel with more energy than usual now that I think about it."

Shanks nodded in understanding. "That's good," he said and then pulled out a bag from behind him that was almost as tall as Luffy and twice as wide. The sound of metal clinking against metal was heard as Shanks threw the bag at Luffy who caught it with a blink of his eyes.

Luffy opened the bag curiously and his eyes widened when he saw that it was filled almost to the brink with beri bills and coins. "Shanks! What is this?"

Shanks laughed at Luffy's shock. "Dahahahaha! That's your reward for killing Higuma. That guys had an ฿8,000,000 bounty on his head. Since you offed him, albeit on accident, it's only fair that you get it."

Luffy looked at the bag with a conflicted look on his face and he turned towards Shanks. "It's really okay if I take it? Won't it make me a bad guy for receiving money after killing someone even if I wasn't meaning to do it?"

Shanks smiled softly, and he put a hand on Luffy's head. "You want to be a pirate, Luffy, and as such, you will learn that there is rarely such a thing as a good guy and a bad guy. We are all people with ambitions and dreams willing to do almost whatever it takes to accomplish them. Make no mistake, evilness and cruelty does exist, and those are the things you have to despise and fight against. Always remember to judge others by their actions and never by their words and/or appearance."

Luffy's eyes gleamed with understanding and he nodded his head. "I get it Shanks. I promise to never be cruel or evil and to always fight against it if I get the chance. In that same note, I promise to do whatever to takes to accomplish my dreams as long as it doesn't go against my first promise!"

Shanks nodded, pleased. "That's what I like to hear. Now, let's take that money to Makino-chan so she can look after it for you until you get back. We are heading into the forest and I believe we are likely going to spend the whole day there."

With a grin, Luffy, with his bag full of money, followed Shanks.

 **.o0O0o.**

"Alright Luffy, I want you to pay close attention to what I am about to tell you. It's very important you never forget this, okay?" Shanks spoke seriously once they arrived at a clearing in the forest big enough for what he had planned. They stood right in the middle of it facing each other. When Luffy nodded his head attempting to mimic Shank's seriousness, with some success much to the red-haired pirate's hidden amusement, he continued. "Yesterday, what you ate wasn't an ordinary fruit, but rather, a Devil Fruit. More specifically, one of the strongest Logia-Type Devil Fruits: The Goro-Goro no Mi, which gives you the ability to create, control and transform into electricity at will. With me so far?"

Luffy nodded. "That means that the reason why… Higuma… couldn't harm me when I jumped in between his sword and you was because I turned into electricity, right? And then I created it when I, erm, blasted him?"

Shanks nodded, glad that Luffy could at the very least use basic logical deduction going something that he had already seen. That was going to make things easier. "That's correct. Before we get further into what you can do with your fruit, I will explain the different types of fruit there are and their characteristics, okay?" When Luffy nodded, Shanks proceeded to do just that. "There are three types of Devil Fruits: Paramecia, Zoan and Logia. The first one, Paramecia, are the most common ones and give you some sort of ability that can range from being able of sectioning part of your body to allowing you to cause earthquakes!"

Luffy's eyes widened. "Earthquakes?! Are you for real?!"

Shanks grinned. "That's right. The one known as 'The Strongest Man in the World' is the user of that fruit!"

"Woah," breathed Luffy.

Shanks chuckled. "Next we have Zoan-Type Devil Fruit. They are less common than paramecia and they give you the ability to transform into a beast or an animal, along with given you certain traits of that animal, like increased hearing range for example." Shanks paused and when he saw that Luffy both understood and committed the info to memory he continued. "And finally, we have the type to which your Devil Fruit belongs to: Logia. This type of fruits is the rarest and is considered generally stronger than the other two because, as I said earlier, they give you the ability to create, control and transform into an element, a force of nature. Yours is especially strong since it's lightning, an element that burns hotter than the sun and moves faster than sound."

"Hotter than the sun?!" screamed Luffy in disbelief.

Shanks shrugged. "That's what scientists say and since they know their stuff I'm willing to take it at face value," he laughed uncaringly, making Luffy sweatdrop at him. A few moments later, Shanks was serious again. "That doesn't mean, however, that you are suddenly invincible just because you can transform into lightning. As it is one of the strongest forces of nature, it's also one of the most difficult to control. Not only that, but there are methods that can be used to hurt you."

Luffy gave Shank a skeptical look. "Such as…"

"When you consume a Devil Fruit you lose all ability to swim in the ocean. You are weakened to the point of being unable to move if you come in direct contact with it. That means that anything with the same properties as sea water is a weakness to you. There is a type of stone called Seastone that can be used as cuffs or to forge weapons that can harm you," he said, mero serious than before, making Luffy gulp before he nodded his head vigorously, showing that he understood. With some hesitance, Shanks continued. "Another method would be through the use of Busoshoku Haki, which is a special technique that allows you to hit even Logia type devil fruit users when they are transformed into their element."

Luffy watched with interest as Shanks raised his hand and his eyes widened when it was suddenly covered by a black substance that was shiny. His eyes gleamed in delight. "That looks so cool! Do you think you can teach me that?!"

Shanks laughed as he dismissed his armament haki. _That confirms it. Yesterday was just pure dumb luck mixed with the results of Garp's likely ridiculous training methods and Luffy's own potential.'_ His thoughts were not on his face, however, which instead was pulled into an amused expression. "If you manage to get enough control over your lightning powers and you impress me enough I'll se about teaching you about Haki and its types, alright?" He grinned down at Luffy. _'Something tells me that he will be able to also use Kenbunshoku and Haoshoku too. This brat…'_

Luffy matched his grin as he tightened his fist and locked eyes with Shanks. "Bring it on! I'll show that I have what it takes to be recognized by you, Shanks! I'm not about to let you down you hear me!"

And Shanks wholeheartedly believed him.

 **.o0O0o.**

Almost a year passed with Luffy meeting with Shanks on that clearing every day, except for the relatively short periods of time when Shanks and his crew would set sail to the ocean for weeks on end. Genuinely desiring to be acknowledged by Shanks, Luffy threw himself into his training with all he's got and he succeeded on his task of impressing the red-haired pirate. Not only did he manage to get enough control over his lightning powers that he was no longer afraid of accidentally electrocuting someone but he also devised quite a few different attacks with those same powers.

Because of that, Shanks taught him about the three types of Haki and they discovered that Luffy had the potential to use the three of them a few moths ago. With that in mind, Shanks taught him methods of training that would help Luffy develop Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku Haki. Haoshoku Haki was all about state of mind, instinct and will power and its development was different for everyone, so the only thing he showed Luffy was how to reach within him to bring it forth but training it was up to Luffy.

Now Luffy stood at the docks, an upset look on his face as he watched Shank's crew loading their ship with provisions while Shanks himself shouted orders at them from a few feet away. "Are you leaving for good this time?"

Shanks turned towards him, an amused grin on his face. "Yeah. We have stayed long enough here. It's time we finally went back to the New World." Shanks had also taught Luffy about the Grand Line and the things he could find there and instead of dissuading him, it only made Luffy more excited about sailing a sea filled with such wonders. And not only was it time to go back, but he had gotten intel that Monkey D. Garp was on his way here. Even though he was a Yonko and he was the Hero of the Marines, they were not in bad terms personally. That didn't mean, however, that Garp wouldn't attempt to capture him and Shanks was not going to let him do that easily. There was no need to rearrange East Blue's geography after all so avoiding him was the best course of action. Shank's grin turned teasing. "Are you upset?"

Luffy shook his head rapidly, dismissing the tears that had been about to leak out of his eyes. "Pffft! Heck no!" A few moments later Luffy sighed and turned away, a sad expression on his face. "I won't force you to take me with you anymore, you know? I decided that I'm going to become a pirate by myself!"

Shanks snorted. "As if you could force me to do anything! Dahahahahaha!" He laughed before he grinned. "So, you decided to eventually head out yourself, huh? I'll be honest, Luffy. You have tons of potential but there is still a lot you need to do before you are ready to become a pirate. Right now, you are barely scratching the surface."

Luffy scowled and turned towards him with determined eyes. "I'll show you then! I'll become better and stronger pirate than even you! I'll even find myself a crew stronger than yours! And then I'll find the world's biggest treasure and become the Pirate King!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Luffy fondly. Even Shank's face softened as he looked down at him. "You want to be bigger than us, huh…" He trailed off before he smiled softly and reached for his straw hat. "In that case then…" He took off his hat and put it on Luffy's head. "This hat is my gift to you. It's my favorite one, you know?" He smiled as Luffy began to cry in earnest, gritting his teeth as he tried and failed to stop his tears. Shanks began to walk towards his ship and he turned around to give Luffy a grin. "When you become a great pirate, you'll return that hat to me."

Unable to form words, Luffy just nodded his head in agreement. He then watched as Shanks and his men set sail towards the horizon, not moving until he couldn't see them anymore. Luffy finally walked away when it was only him and there was a determined look on his face as he headed into the forest. He had a promise to keep and the first step into fulfilling it was to become as strong as he could until he became old enough to become a pirate.

 **.o0O0o.**

"Rise and shine, brat! What's this I'm hearing about you mingling with good for nothing pirates, huh?!"

Luffy suddenly woke up with a scream of pain as he tenderly cupped the top of his head where he had been hit in an extremely painful manner. "Gah! That hurt!" He shouted and turned towards the source of the voice only to see a tall and muscular old man with gray hair, blue eyes and a beard that matched the color of his beard. He was wearing a tropical shirt and shorts and he was leering at Luffy malevolently with a grin on his face. Luffy paled in horror. "Gra-gramps!"

"The one and only, brat," he replied, inspecting his grandson and nodding mentally to himself as he noted that Luffy has indeed been training hard in the past year and a half. Makino had also told him of what happened with Higuma and what happened with Luffy. He had quickly deduced that his grandson was now a Logia-type. Even though he was angry at Shanks for being so irresponsible, the fact that Luffy's immense potential had skyrocketed could only be a good thing. He was going to be an exceptional marine.

It was then that Luffy realized that his grandfather had been able to hit him and he pointed at him with wide eyes. "Oi! Do you know how to use Busoshoku?! Or do you have a sea stone mallet hidden somewhere, huh?!"

Garp's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. _'That good for nothing Akagami taught him about Haki! I should hunt him down and break his neck! But I suppose it was sensible considering that Luffy is now a Logia and he needed to learn about his weaknesses so I guess I can't be too angry.'_ He thought before he grinned, showing his fist to Luffy. "That's correct brat. So, don't think that just because you are a Lightning Man now you are going to be able to escape the 'Fist of Love', ya hear me?"

Luffy gulped and nodded his head rapidly.

Pleased, Garp put his fist on his waist and he looked down at Luffy. "So, what else did Akagami teach you?"

Luffy quickly deduced that Akagami was Shanks since he was the only one with red-hair that he knew and promptly answered. "He helped me control my lightning powers and develop a few attacks. He also taught me the basics of using a sabre and a flintlock. Then he taught me how to train in Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku Haki since he told me I could use the tree forms of it. He told me that only I could figure out how to train Haoshoku."

Outwardly Garp just nodded. Inwardly, however, he was thinking furiously. _'So, he can use all forms of Haki, eh? That's good, excellent even! I think I should teach him the Rokushiki too. It would make him learn how to use Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku far more easily. Not only that but if he becomes strong enough, he can help me clean up the Marines from the corrupt fools that are at the top…'_ Garp was loyal to the marines and the World Government but he was not blind to their faults. One of the reasons he wanted Luffy, and the other two, to join the marines was because he knew that they had enough potential to become incredibly strong, to the point the could start the much-needed revolution the marines needed to be the true force of justice he knew they used to be.

"Man! I can't wait until I am strong and old enough to become a pirate!"

Garp paused and he turned towards Luffy with an angry expression on his face. "What did you say, brat?!" He shouted as he hit Luffy over the head with his fist, sending Luffy sprawling to the floor with a smoking lump growing from the top of his head where he had been hit. "If you think you are going to become a good for nothing criminal then you have another damn thing coming!"

With a growl, Luffy stood up and he glared at his grandfather with tears of pain gathering at the corner of his eyes. "Hell no, you crazy geezer! I'm going to become a pirate! I'll find the biggest treasure and become Pirate King, the freest and strongest man of them all!"

For a moment Garp saw the outline of Gol D. Roger staring at him with that smug grin of his that he had every time he managed to escape Garp's grasp, which he hated to admit was more often than not. He growled in anger and he lifted Luffy by the scruff of his neck and raised him until he was eye level with him. With an artery throbbing on his forehead he raised his fist and cracked his knuckles by tightening it. "Hm, is that so? I guess that I will have to educate you until you see the error of your ways."

And that was how Luffy's education- read torture disguised as training- under his grandfather, Monkey D. Garp, known as 'Garp the Fist, and Vice-Admiral of the Marines, began.

 **.o0O0o.**

Ten years passed ever since Garp began Luffy's tortur- I mean, training. Garp spent most of that time teaching Luffy how to fight, both with his fists and legs and using his lightning powers and also toughening him up so he could survive there.

Garp tried his best to make Luffy decide to join the marines in the future. He even taught him the Rokushiki to tempt him to join but it was all for naught. To this day Garp was cursing both Shanks for influencing Luffy and his family's well known stubborn streak. In the end, Garp had to give up on that endeavor but he did his best to at the very least make sure Luffy was a passably decent man with an uncorrupted sense of justice. He was… successful… to put it in the simplest of terms.

If Luffy was honest with himself he didn't really like using the Rokushiki because they were developed by the World Government. Even though he had mastered the techniques to a degree that even his grandfather was pleased with, he couldn't deny they were very powerful and useful in a fight. Because of this, he had used them to base off a few techniques of his own using his lightning powers, improving them to a degree that surprised Garp when he showed them to him, which was saying something.

Luffy stood on his dhoni, a sailboat with a lateen sail he had bought with some of his money which had grown to ten million beri after he used the time he was not training doing odd jobs around town, knowing that he was going to need the money in order to procure the things he was going to need for the Grand Line, which were not cheap. He could always steal them of course, but he was at least going to try and be a decent person about it. If the marines as much as looked at him funny all bets were off though.

Luffy had changed a lot in the past ten years. His hair had grown to the point it reached the nape of his neck and almost framed his face. He had grown to height of six foot one inches thanks to the amount of physical training he did on a daily basis and the amount of food he ate, which was actually more of a necessity than something he did for pleasure since using his lightning powers required a lot of energy, which he got through eating. He was also quite muscular, but with a lithe build, since he leaned for speed rather than power. He was wearing a red button-up, sleeveless vest, black jean pants, brown boots, a yellow sash around his waist that held his sabre and a flintlock pistol. His straw hat was, as always, on top of his head.

"Thanks for everything, everyone!" He shouted as he waved at those that had come to see him off, which included Makino, mayor Wood Slap, along with other inhabitants of the village, and Curly Dadan and some of her bandit minions.

He smiled in melancholy as he saw that Curly Dadan was fighting back tears as she looked at him finally setting out on his own. He was extremely grateful to her for taking him, Ace and Sabo in, feeding them and giving them a roof for all those years whenever Garp was away on marine business. He knew that despite her rough exterior, she truly cared for them, and she wouldn't change what happened in the past, the good and the bad, for anything in the world.

Luffy stopped waving when he could only see dots in the distance and he turned around and sat down, his hand grasping the tiller almost absently as he stared straight ahead. "Let's see. I have enough provisions to last me for about one week. That should be enough to last me until Shells Town, where I should be able to restock again. Yosh! And if I'm lucky I'll run into "Iron Mace" Alvida. She's rumored to sail the waters between here and Shells Town. I'm sure she's got a lot of useful things I could steal and her bounty could be a nice addition to the amount of money I already have. Shishishishi!"

Luffy then used his compass and map in order to set his sailboat in direction towards Shells Town. When he was done, he leaned back and closed his eyes to take a nap only to pause and sigh annoyance a few moments before the boat was suddenly rocked violently as the waters churned. There was a roar and Luffy opened his eyes to see a brown scaled Sea King that vaguely resembled a barracuda and could easily swallow him and his boat whole leering down at him with hunger in its intelligent red and yellow eyes.

It lunged towards him, its maw opened wide as it made to eat him, and Luffy was about use one of his many lightning techniques to easily off it when an idea occurred to him. This Sea King, or as it was better known by the inhabitants of Foosha Village, the Lord of the Coast, caused a lot of issues for the many fishermen, eating the fish and occasionally the fisherman when it was feeling particularly hungry.

Still, as intelligent as it was, the Sea King was still an animal and Luffy couldn't bring himself to kill it just because it was following its instincts. So Luffy decided that he should make something useful out of it.

Locking eyes with the incoming sea monster, Luffy glared at it as he brought forth his Haoshoku Haki, pining it in place with the force of his will. After a few moments of clashing wills, which Luffy won easily due to the Sea King being an animal despite its intelligence, the monster seemingly calmed down and it slowly approached Luffy, bowing its massive head in submission the moment it reached the boat.

Luffy laughed as he roached forward and rubbed the Sea King's head affectionately. "Shishishishishi! I think I found myself a new pet! What should I name you, hm? You a boy?" Luffy asked and the Sea King shook its head, clearly understanding the question. "A girl then." The Sea King nodded almost eagerly. "So… how about Nina as your new name? I think it's a cute, yes?" The newly named Nina _purred_ in apparent agreement and happiness.

Luffy laughed and he patted Nina in the head. "It's settled then. From now on you are Nina and the first member of my crew. Your job is going to be to make sure that we are always on course, okay?" Luffy said as he pulled out a thick rope from one of the many chests that contained what he had taken with him. He wrapped it around Nina tightly, who looked on curiously at her new master. Luffy then pointed in the direction he was supposed to be headed. "Make sure I'm always headed in that direction and stay submerged unless I tell you otherwise or call you, alright?"

Nina crooned and nodded before diving to the water and Luffy laughed in delight as his dhoni began to move almost twice as fast as before. At this pace it was going to take four days instead of a week to reach Shells Town. Opting to tame Nina instead of simply killing her turned out to be best course of action he could have taken. With a laugh, Luffy settled back, putting his feet on top of the chest that contained his money and tilted his straw hat down until it covered his eyes. Finally, he could take a nap.

 **.o0O0o.**

"Hm, so "Iron Mace" Alvida's base is indeed here," muttered a beautiful orange haired girl with brown eyes. She was wearing white and blue shirt that strained against her big and perky chest and a tan skirt that barely covered half of her thighs. She was sitting in a small boat as she looked at her map and compass. "Judging by the wind and where I am I should be reach the island in which she is at in two days and I have more than enough food to last me that long."

She then grinned as she looked up, her brown eyes gleaming with greed. "I know I'm no match for her but I'm skilled enough to sneak in and steal all her money. After that I will head to the marine base at Shells Town and steal a map on how to get to the Grand Line, where I should be able to get what I need to reach the ฿100,000,000 I need," she said to herself with determination as she stared straight ahead, her hand unconsciously tightening around the map she was holding.

 **.o0O0o.**

Two days later and a grinning Luffy watched from the distance as a small island appeared on the horizon. The reason why he was grinning was because he could see a large pink ship anchored pretty close to the shore. It had four sails, one higher than the other three. Each sail had a pink heart and the ship itself had two hearts on each side. The figurehead was of a duck and its flag had a jolly roger of traditional design with the exception being that the skull was depicted from the side and it had a heart on it.

' _That's got to be Alvida's ship. The rumors about her being here are true. I hope that the rumors about her appearance are exaggerated though,'_ he thought with a grimace as he recalled the many unflattering things the people that had seen the female pirate said about her.

He shook his head and cupped his hand over his mouth. "Nina!" He shouted and waited. A few seconds later, his pet Sea King gently emerged from the ocean and stared up at him almost adoringly. "Take me around that island over there so I can get in without being seen, please," he requested. Luffy learned that the more affectionate and kinder he was to Nina the easier it was to get her to do something. Feeding her was of no issue since she could easily snatch the many fishes that strayed too close to her.

Truthfully, he wondered why more pirates didn't get Sea Kings as their pets…

…Oh, yeah. That's right. Almost no one had access to Haoshoku and even fewer were crazy and uncaring enough, which obviously Luffy was, to attempt to tame a Sea King to make it function as a pet and a glorified towing submarine.

With a croon and a nod, Nina submerged back into the ocean and followed Luffy's instructions perfectly. She towed him around the island and keept him at a distance at which those that were currently there had to be specifically looking for something in the horizon to spot him. After he was facing the island at an angle at which he could still see the sails of Alvida ship but was practically behind them, Luffy ordered Nina to get him closer to the shore.

When he was only about a hundred meters away, he commanded Nina to stop and she raised her head to look at him curiously. He grinned at her as he patted her head. "I'll go into that island and beat the pirates that are there and take their treasure. That means that it's highly probable that we are going to change ships, since there's barely enough space for me in the dhoni as it is. I want you to slowly go back around the island and approach the pink ship while I deal with them."

Nina nodded in agreement and Luffy, after patting her head once more much to her pleasure, gave her a two-fingered salute before his body suddenly began to spark with yellow electricity. His body turned into a bolt of lighting that in the blink of an eye, and with the muffled sound of cracking thunder, closed the distance between the boat and the shore before it turned back into Luffy. All of this happened under the interested eyes of Nina, who, after a few moments, gave the Sea King equivalent of a shrug before she submerged and began to swim around the island slowly in direction of the pink monstrosity.

Back with Luffy, he was whistling a jaunty tune as he uncaringly walked through the light forest that made up the inside of the island, looking around in a bored fashion. ' _To be honest, this island is perfect for a pirate to set base. It's unassuming and out of the way. I ran into it due to pure luck. Now if Alvida would paint her ship in colors that were less… eye-catching… I would call her smart…'_ He thought in amusement.

As he got closer to the where he had seen the ship anchored at, Luffy came across a crudely made and quite ugly boat. He grimaced a bit at the sight. _'Damn, whomever built this coffin doesn't even know the basics of carpentry. I'm pants at it but even I could build something nicer looking than this,'_ he thought with some derision and shaking his head as he continued to walk forward.

Eventually, he reached the edge of the forest and he peered in interest to see what he's got to work with. He saw two warehouses, the two of them made out of wood, probably procured from the trees of this same island, but only one of them was painted. As he watched on, he raised an eyebrow in interest when he saw a beautiful orange haired woman with quite the buxom figure that looked to be around his age, perhaps a year older. As she looked around, obviously looking for someone that could spot her, she caught sight of him and her eyes widened in alarm when she saw him.

Luffy just grinned pleasantly at her and waved almost cheekily. When he saw her visibly calm down and wave back at him, a wary look on her pretty face, he proceeded to point at her, then made the universal motion for money with his hand, did the universal motion for stealing with his hand and finally pointed in the direction of Alvida's ship. It seemingly took a moment for the girls to understand him but she eventually slowly nodded with narrowed eyes.

Grin widening, Luffy pointed at her then made the motion of with his hand of her sneaking in and then pointed at himself, then at Alvida's ship and did the 'explosion' motion with both his hands, with facial expression and all, which seemingly got a chuckle out of her. This time she understood immediately that he was telling her that he was going to make a distraction while she sneaked in and took the treasure. She nodded almost eagerly. When he requested for the loot to be split in half between them, however, she looked almost angry, but she surprised him when she reluctantly agreed.

Luffy watched as the girl got inside the unpainted warehouse through a window and he took that as his cue to act. He confidently walked forward going through the small 'alley' created by the two warehouses and he stood in front of them, grin in place and hand insides his pockets. He idly noticed that Alvida's ship looked even uglier up close. "Oi! I'm here to steal Alvida's treasure and to see if she is as ugly and fat as she is rumored to be! Can someone please tell her to come out?!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

Eerie silence was his initial answer.

Inside the warehouse, as she quickly put beri coins and papers along with some precious jewels too, the orange haired girl snorted in amusement as she heard the voice of the strange and very handsome, might she add, man that had spotted her and seemingly teamed up with her to steal from Alvida. She knew that she could've have been able to easily pull this hit off without any help whatsoever but she deduced that him functioning as decoy was a very welcomed help. Besides, half of this treasure was even more of what she was hoping to get and though she was tempted to run away with all the money, she had given her word that they were going to split it and unlike pirate scum, she was true to her word.

Back with Luffy, he only had to wait for a few moments before a high-pitched scream of rage was heard from the ship and he watched on in amusement as about two dozen men came from the ship and four came out of the painted warehouse that was on his right side. They all had angry and, curiously enough, horrified expression on their faces. Well, all of them except for a scrawny and small pink haired boy wearing round-frame glasses. That one just looked horrified.

"Who the fuck do you think to you are to speak such lies about me, huh?!" Bellowed the same voice that had screeched and a big and round blur shot from the ship, somewhat impressing Luffy with its nimbleness despite the amount it obviously weighted. The blur landed right behind the conglomeration of pirates and Luffy grimaced as he caught sight of Alvida. If anything, those rumors about her where understated.

She was a was a tall and very obese woman with long wavy black hair, and freckles on her cheeks. She wore a white cowgirl hat with a large red plume, a red neckerchief, a pink plaid shirt, and a blue captain's coat over it. She wore rings on her fingers and her long sharp fingernails had red polish. She had a purple sash with a flintlock pistol tucked in it and some jewels. She also wore graying pants and red shoes with gold buckles.

Luffy just smirked at her. "Me? I'm just an honest man who wants your treasure and cash in your bounty. I was only morbidly curious about your appearance, since it was spoken of so much when you were mentioned but after seeing you myself, I can only say you are even uglier than I thought you were! Shishishishishi!" He laughed merrily.

Jaws hit the floor at Luffy's words and a vein popped across Alvida's forehead and back of her hand as she brandished her spiked mace threateningly. "Why you?! I am the most beautiful woman in all the seas! Men! Teach this idiotic fool what we do to those that dare speak lies about my beautiful self!" She bellowed, pointing at him with her mace.

Without hesitation and war cries, Alvida's crew, with the notable exception of the pink haired boy wearing glasses, charged at Luffy brandishing swords, knifes and many types of blunt type weapons. With a menacing grin on his face, Luffy grasped the handle of his sabre with one hand and reached for his flintlock pistol with his left. As the pirates approached him, Luffy slowly began to unsheathe his sword.

The orange haired girl, hearing this, curiously peered outside from one of the windows and her eyes widened in horror when she saw the entirety of Alvida's crew charging at the man that was supposed to just distract them, not get himself killed. Before guilt over the fact that she had basically agreed to send him to his death, even though it had been his idea, could settle in, she was forced to gasp again when in the blink of an eye, he pulled out his sword, stabbed the two pirates that closed in him first in the gut in quick succession before ducking under another that swung a bat at his head, only to get shot in the face at almost point-blank range.

The girl then watched, almost in a trance, as the handsome black-haired man singlehandedly fought and defeated the entirety of Alvida's crew, laughing as he dished out pain, suffering and death in a manner that was almost beautiful to watch. He was graceful and quick, slashing them with his sword or striking them down using his elbows, knees or feet when he could after dodging their attacks and sometimes retaliating with a lethal shot of his pistol that always caught its target in the head or the chest, killing them instantly as their brains or heart respectively got damaged irreparably.

Luffy, meanwhile, had gotten bored pretty quickly when these guys proved to be not even worth being called a warm up. So, it was with a disappointed look on his face that he buried his right fist into the face of the second to last pirate, caving it in and sending him to la-la land only to turn around and kick the last pirate across the face with such strength that he broke his neck and killed him instantly. With a dull look on his face, Luffy locked eyes with Alvida, the members of her crew either dead, dying, groaning in pain or in blissful unconsciousness as they laid on the sand of the shore. "Was that all?"

Utterly shocked, Alvida could only take a step back as she growled in anger. She then noticed that one of her crew had not moved in to attack him when gave the other and she turned towards him and saw that he was giving the black-haired man that had made short work of her crew with almost contemptuous ease a look of utter shock and awe. She gritted her teeth. "Coby! What do you think you are doing standing there! GO and kill him for your beautiful captain, you little shit!"

Coby, the pink haired boy with round frame glasses, seemed conflicted as he looked between the bored looking Luffy, the defeated member's of Alvida's crew and Alvida herself. After repeating this for a few times, Coby's eyes hardened and he turned towards Alvida with a furious glare on his face. "No! I refuse! I'm sick and tired of the way you have treated me in the past two years! So if you think that I'm going to willingly walk to my death you have another damn thing coming, you ugly bitch!"

Alvida's jaw hit the floor.

Luffy laughed. "Shishishishishi! I like you kid! Even though you are scared shitless of this woman you still are brave enough to tell her what is what!" He declared, noticing that despite the vehemence of his words, Coby was still shaking in terror as he paled after realizing exactly what he just said.

Alvida, after a few moments of shocked anger, bellowed in rage. "Coooobyyyyyy!" She screeched as she jumped toward him, her spiked mace raised over her head ready to kill him one blow for having the nerve to insult her like that, even after she had allowed him to serve under her for two years.

Coby yelped and froze, only able to close his eyes in preparation for his death at the hand of Alvida.

A moment later the sound of metal smacking against flesh was heard.

"WHAT?!"

At Alvida's incredulous shout and the fact that he had felt no pain, he opened his eyes only for them to widen when he saw the black-haired man that had defeated Alvida's crew effortlessly holding back Alvida's mace with his bare hand, the spikes not even harming him. His eyes, which had been dull before, now had a gleam of interest in them.

"Hm, this hammer's weights approximately… half a ton, I would say. And you are swinging it around with ease and you can also put some strength into it. It seems like there's a bit of hope for you yet, Alvida! Shishishishishi!" Declared Luffy with a laugh, not noticing the incredulous look Coby was looking at him with nor the fact Alvida had blushed slightly at his words. "In any case, however, I'm still going to cash in your bounty. I do need the money, you see. So, no hard feelings, eh?"

Then, under the widening eyes of Alvida and Coby, Luffy seemingly disappeared in a blur of motion, which made Alvida lose her balance for a second as she fell forward a bit and making Coby yelp as she jumped backwards so as to not get hit by her mace. In another blink of an eye, Luffy appeared above Alvida with his right fist cocked back. "Night, night!" He sang cheekily before he lashed out with his arm, clobbering Alvida over the head with enough strength to send her splattering to the sand, kicking it up in a cloud and rendering her blissfully unconscious with probably a concussion. If her physical strength was anything to go by, she was going to be fine.

"Well, that takes care of that," said Luffy with a chuckle as he clapped his hands lightly as if cleaning them after doing good job.

Coby stared at him with his mouth open, shifting his look from the unconscious Alvida to the grinning man that couldn't be too much older than him before he spoke hesitantly. "Just who the hell are you?" He had come out of nowhere and beat Alvida and her crew with an ease that was scary and if that wasn't enough, he was also physically strong enough to stop one of Alvida's strikes, which he knew were capable of easily destroying one of the warehouses in one blow, with his bare hand.

Luffy turned towards him and grinned widely as he pointed at himself with the thumb of his right hand. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy. And I am the man that's going to become the Pirate King!" He declared with such conviction that for a moment, Coby believed that this wasn't his ambition but rather an already given fact.

"You are a pirate?!" Luffy and Coby heard the seething voice and they both turned towards only to see the orange haired girl glaring at Luffy with barely repressed scorn and anger as she held two bags thrice her width and half her height that were obviously filled to the brim with money and other valuable things. "I thought you were just a bounty hunter, a mercenary or something like that but you are just scum?! I bet you are not even going to let me keep my cut, right?!" She shouted at him. She was angry at herself as well for not even considering that the handsome and interesting looking man could even be a pirate.

Luffy stared at her with a serious expression, actually making her feel a bit self-conscious, before it softened much to her surprise and he gave her an understanding smile. "You have had some experience with the scum that thinks that just because they had a ship and a jolly roger on their flag they are worthy of being called a pirate, yeah?" When her eyes widened, he nodded. "I get that. I have dealt with worthless men like that. And let me tell you… they are not real pirates!"

The orange haired girl gritted her teeth and glared at him. "How could you possibly understand?! There's no way you would know if you still decided to become a pirate!"

Luffy smiled in sadness. "Scum that called themselves pirates were indirectly responsible for the death of one of my sworn brothers," he said, which resulted in the instant evaporation of Nami's anger as she gasped and covered her mouth with one of her hands. Even Coby was looking at him with wide eyes. "Also, it was a man that called himself a pirate that humored me when I nagged him to take me with him on one of his voyages, taught me that cruelty and evilness should be fought and despised and also gave me a purpose," he said, fondly remembering his time spent with Shanks. "A pirate is not a man who just sails the seas, pillages and kill. That might come with the job because of how unforgiving this world is but it is not what defines us. A pirate is someone who is free. Someone with very few things that they won't do to accomplish their dreams. And I want to be freest of them all. I will find One Piece and become the Pirate King!"

"You want to find One Piece?! Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! It's been two decades ever since Gold Roger was executed and no one has yet to find it! Do you want to die or something? To become the Pirate King in the Pirate Era is utterly impossible! And- Ouch! Why did you hit me?!" Cried Coby as he crouched down and held the smoking lump that rose from the place that Luffy had hit him.

"You were being annoying," answered Luffy simply. "Besides, I ain't afraid of dying fighting for my dream. If I die before accomplishing it then that's all I was worth and I am okay with that. And the only reason no one has found it is because I have yet to start looking for it."

' _Such drive and conviction…'_ thought Coby admiringly

Even the orange haired girl was giving him an admiring look, which she couldn't help since her previous world view had been shattered by his words. Also, she was pretty good judge of character and she could tell that this man, Monkey D. Luffy, was a good person. And he was pretty strong. Maybe… she shook her head immediately, not even letting that thought form completely. She was almost done gathering the money she needed. Asking for help after all this time would be pointless.

"Luffy-san!" Shouted Coby, getting the attention of the other two, as he stood up. "Then that means that even I could also accomplish my dreams if I'm willing to die for it? If I'm willing to put my life in the line for it, could I become a marine?!"

"A marine?" Asked Luffy, cocking his head to the side thoughtfully.

For a moment, the orange haired girl wondered if this boy was stupid, telling a man that wanted to become Pirate King that he wanted to become a part of the sworn enemies of the pirates. She was going to be shocked by him once again.

"Yes! Luffy-san, I know that would make us enemies in the future but joining the marines and catching bad guys has always been my dream!" He shouted.

"Is that so?" Mused Luffy before he grinned at Coby. "Then, if you are willing to put in the hard work and not mind dying for it, then I'm sure you can become a great marine, Coby!" He paused before shrugging his shoulders. "That is, if you don't mind the corruption and the overall cruelty disguised as absolute justice that most of them are spouting nowadays."

Coby's eyes widened. "What?"

Even the orange haired girl was giving him a curious and a bit scandalized look.

Luffy laughed in amusement. "Don't tell me that you thought all marines were just and benevolent, right? To tell you the truth, there are more evil and cruel marines disguising their selfish acts as justice than there are scum calling themselves pirates if you look at it in a ratio based analysis." He paused and a dark expression appeared on his face. "I should know considering that the marines did nothing to stop a part of the island I used to live in, the one in which the poor lived and that was also used as a dumpster by the wealthier ones, to be burned down just because they wanted the approval of someone one from the World Government."

His audience gasped in shock and he smiled wanly at them. "The world ain't black and white only. There are also shades of gray abound. And you don't judge people by what they are or what they say. You judge them by what they do and it's up to you to decide whether you agree with them or not, which would then tell you what kind of person you are after you answer that question. That was what that pirate taught me."

Coby gaped at him in disbelief before he shook his head and he tightened his fist, glaring at him in defiance. "I don't care! And if that's the case then I'm going to change the marines! If their truly only a corrupted bunch of evil guys sanctioned by the World Government then I'm going to go there and revolutionize it if I have to damnit! My dream is to become a marine, a symbol of true justice!"

The orange haired girl gave him an incredulous look while Luffy laughed in delight and grinned so widely at him that it looked almost ready to split his face. "That's what I like to hear. You know, gramps could use someone like you. He is also trying to change the marines back to how they were before the current administration of the World Government… encouraged them to become what they are today."

"Gramps?" Questioned the orange haired girl raising an eyebrow at him. "Your grandfather is a member of the marines and yet you decided to become a pirate? What gives?"

Luffy laughed. "Yeah. Drove him up the wall every time I told him I wanted to become one. I think it was the reason why his training consisted of pummeling me and my brothers, who also wanted to become pirates, to the ground using his patented 'Fist of love', throwing me off cliffs, tying me to flying balloons and leaving me for months to survive in a jungle with only the clothes I was wearing," he said before laughing again.

"What kind of grandfather does that…"

"Wait a second… your name is Monkey D. Luffy… and your grandfather is on the marines…" As Coby trailed off, Luffy grinned as realization slowly settled in him and laughed at the absolutely shocked expression on his face as he pointed a shaky finger in Luffy's direction. "You… you… you are the grandson of the Monkey D. Garp, the hero of the marines?!" He screeched.

Even as the orange haired girl also began to gape at him, Luffy simply nodded. "Yup. That's him. The craziest and most sadistic old man if you'll ever seen. Love him to death though," said Luffy with a shrug. He then turned towards the orange haired girl and peered at her curiously. "I never caught your name now that I think about it."

"It's… Nami…" she said weakly as she tried to wrap her head around the craziness that was now surrounding her after meeting this man.

"Nami, huh? That's a cute name," he grinned at her and laughed as she blushed and looked away mumbling something that he couldn't quite catch. "So, where are you going? I'm headed to Shells Town. I need to cash in Alvida's bounty at the Marine base over there and Coby also needs to head there since he wants to join the Marines."

Feeling oddly comfortable around him, which had nothing to do with the fact that the first compliment he had given her had been about her name instead of a physical aspect of her, Nami nodded. "I'm also headed there. I am a thief, you see. Marine bases have a lot of money laying around in case someone goes there to cash in a bounty. Also, there is a rumor that they have a map on how to get to the Grand Line there."

When he heard that, Coby turned incredulous eyes on her. "The Grand Line?! Why would you want go there if you are only a thief?! Haven't you heard the horror stories about that place and the monsters that sail those waters?! You'll be killed!"

Nami shrugged her shoulders. "I need to go there if I wan to reach my goal. I've pretty much robbed everyone worth stealing from in East Blue. I need to go to a place where it's a sure that I'm going to find the amount of money I need in one go. If that place is the Grand Line, then so be it."

"The money you need, not want, you say?" Asked Luffy, giving her a knowing look. He chuckled when her eyes widened, and she smacked a hand into her mouth after realizing how much of herself she revealed. "I don't care about that, Nami. But I sure as hell like your guts and your willingness to put your life in the line for your goals, whatever they might be. Tell you what. I know how to get to the Grand Line and I also know that as you are now you are going to get killed before you set sail in those waters. In exchange for, let's say, twenty percent of what you steal, I'll take you to the Grand Line, help you with your stealing and train you up until you are strong enough to at least have a fair chance at surviving. I also kind of need the money, you see. Deal?"

Nami locked eyes with him and she was surprised to the amount of sincerity she saw in his eyes. "If I say yes, do I get to keep eighty percent of this haul instead of only fifty percent of it like we originally agreed?" She probed him. She didn't know why she was even humoring him, but there was something about him that called out to her, and it had nothing to do with his handsome face and delicious looking and ripped arms. Her gut told her that this Monkey D. Luffy could be trusted and she trusted her instincts quite a lot. They have saved her life more times that she could count.

"Sure! Keep all of it if you want, as a matter of fact," Luffy said with a laugh before he nudged Alvida's prone body with a foot. "I'll get enough money out of this bit of excitement when I cash her bounty. I need the money, sure, but I'm not that greedy."

Nami laughed with him, feeling strangely elated. "Then in that case you just found yourself a partner in crime!" She declared and extended one hand towards him and she hid the pleasant shudder that rand through her entire body when she felt his calloused hand wrap almost gently around her smaller one as he shook her hand firmly, sealing their deal. "Do you have a boat big enough to carry us three and all our things? Because I don't."

"Nope… but…" he trailed off as he smiled slyly as he looked down at Alvida before he pointed at her ship. "I don't think she is going to be using that ship much in the future, right? It's gonna need a complete makeover. I refuse to sail on a ship that ugly and with a duck with hearts for eyes as a figurehead of all things."

"And Alvida's ship is pretty well known around here, so we would surely be fired at before we even get close to Shells Town," she said dryly before she regaled Luffy with a beautiful smile as she put her hands on her hips. Her smile widened when she noticed that he blushed as he looked at her. "I like how you work, Luffy. You are not that bad, even if you are a pirate. I think we can make this partnership work."

Luffy laughed as he nodded in agreement. "Shishishishishi! Likewise, Nami, likewise!"

As the two of them laughed out loud in a moment of comradery, Coby hoped that relating with these two, even if it was going to be just for a few days, wouldn't ruin his chances of joining the marines.

It took them almost the rest of the day, but with the… forced assistance… of the Alvida pirates that were not dead and could still move, Luffy managed to turn Alvida's ship into an inconspicuous one. He accomplished that by changing the painting where it been pink to a standard tanned color and where it had been white to a deep red one. He had also gotten rid of the sails with hearts and the flags that had Alvida's jolly roger and changed them for blank ones.

He tied also their boats to the starboard and port of the ship since there was no way they were going to leave them behind so the surviving members of Alvida's crew could use it to leave the island. They could use Coby's ugly boat for all Luffy cared.

It had been pretty funny for Luffy but horrifyingly shocking for Nami and Coby, when Luffy had called Nina who towed his boat towards them so he could tie it to the ship's port. While the two of them had gaped in shock and horror, Luffy went, tied his dhoni to the ship and retrieved his things from it and put them away. When Nami got her senses back after seeing a Sea King obeying a human and behaving like a puppy, she told Luffy where her own boat was, and he had Nina go and retrieve it so they could get her things on board as well.

Luffy removed the figurehead of a duck and the two hearts that the ship had at its sides. Despite only doing that, the ship looked completely different than before and was actually decently looking. After they were done, Luffy had them load the ship with all of their provisions before knocking them out and leaving them on the shore next to the bodies of their dead crewmates.

They tied up the unconscious Alvida up in a way that she couldn't get enough leverage to use her impressive strength to set herself free and put her in one of the cells that were located in the hold of the ship.

The sun was starting to set when they were ready to leave and Luffy was standing in front of the helm with Nami and Coby after he and the pink haired boy brought down the sails in order to allow the wind to push them forward. Nina, as was her job, was also helping moving the ship forward, this time using thicker rope of better quality that Alvida and her crew had laying around in one of the warehouses. He tied it to the ship using the windows for the cannon that were closer to the bow of the ship.

He looked at the map and his compass before he spoke musingly. "I think if we keep this speed, all thanks to Nina, we should be able to reaching Shells Town in about two days more or less."

In a move that surprised Luffy, Nami took the map and compass from him as she shook her head. "While that might be true in most circumstances, I'll have you know that I am also a master navigator. At this speed I can get us there in just a day and a half at the most. I still can't believe you somehow tamed a Sea King, named it Nina and are using her to tow the ship and keep it in the right direction at all times but that's a godsend for all navigators."

Luffy stared at her profile blankly for a few moments before nodding resolutely. "I have decided. You are going to be the navigator of my pirate crew," he announced with a grin.

Nami turned towards him with a glare. "Oh, hell no! I'm willing to travel with you because of this partnership that's going to help me get money and because you are going to take me to the Grand Line but the moment I get my money, we are going on our different ways." She might have realized that maybe not all pirates are scum, but there was a big gap between that and willingly joining a pirate crew.

"I don't care. I have already decided that you are going to be my navigator, Nami. How much money do you need anyways?"

"One hundred million," she stated bluntly.

Coby spluttered to the side as his eyes widened in disbelief.

Luffy whistled at the amount. "Damn. That's quite a lot. How much have you gathered including today's haul?"

Nami replied immediately and still bluntly. "Including what I stole today, I'm short around fifteen million beri."

Luffy grinned. "Tell you what. If you agree to become my navigator, you get to keep everything you steal. You don't have to give me twenty percent of it."

"I refuse," replied Nami instantly.

"And I refuse your refusal."

Nami turned towards him with a comically angry face with blank eyes and shark like teeth. "That's not how it works you moron!"

Luffy just laughed while Coby shook his head at their antics.

After Nami made the modifications to their course and Luffy told Nina to always listen to Nami when she gave instructions about the direction they were going and then having a very hearty dinner, the three of them decided to go to sleep.

Since Luffy was going to train her, and Nami was aware that it took a lot of energy considering that she had trained herself to wield a staff in the past, she knew that she needed to get as much sleep as she could if she wanted to make the most of it. Normally, she preferred running over fighting, but she also knew that the more tricks she had up her sleeve the bigger the chances she had at survival so she was going to at least put some effort to it.

Coby for his part just wanted to go to sleep now because Alvida always forced her crew to go to sleep after midnight and wake up before dawn. Now that he was free of her, he wanted to spit on his time with her as much as he could. Sleeping for a longer period of time was doing exactly that in his mind. He had gone to the first mate quarters to sleep, since Alvida's first mate had been his main tormentor when it wasn't Alvida who was doing it.

Once again shocking Nami, Luffy told her that she could use the Captain's quarters, which had also been given a makeover after removing everything that had 'Alvida's touch'. His reason had been that he saw her shivering when they were outside, and he knew that the crew's quarter was no better. The captain's cabin was warmer and there was also a king-sized bed that she could use. Luffy didn't mind the cold and he actually preferred sleeping under the stars. So, after a grateful Nami thanked him and moved inside, he quickly made himself quite a big and comfy hammock with some of the unused blank sails by tying its ends to the main mast and the foremast. He went to sleep that night with a content smile on his face.

 **.o0O0o.**

Nami woke up the very next day feeling refreshed, something that had not happened in a long time, and she once again thanked Luffy in her mind for giving her the captain's quarters to her. She didn't like cold temperatures.

As she began to do her morning routine of showering and brushing her teeth, which she could do thanks to the utilities of Alvida's (No longer) ship, she thought to herself, _'Huh, that's a first. I didn't even think of escaping with all the money here. Luffy has enough for me to almost reach the amount I need. But I couldn't do that to him. Despite him being a pirate, he's a genuinely nice guy and I only needed yesterday to see that. Besides, it's not like… Nina… was going to let me go very far if I did that,'_ she thought to herself dryly as she put on red shirt, jean shorts and boots.

She stepped put of the cabin and she smiled as the rays of the sun hit her face directly. Judging by its position the time should be about eight, give it or take it a few minutes. It was after that that she heard a few grunts coming from the main deck and she went down the stairs towards it, only to blush pink as she saw Luffy doing handstand pushups without his shirt on.

Nami subconsciously licked her lips as she saw the muscles, all of them she idly noted, rippling with his movements. _'Oh, Nami likes very much,'_ she thought to herself. Even though she had yet to have sex, Nami was not a stranger to the matters of the flesh, having using her body and attractiveness to distract and lure in her targets. So, she had no issues with appreciating something attractive when she saw it and Luffy was definitely the most attractive male she had ever seen, period.

"… and 2000!" Declared Luffy, his voice barely strained, before he pushed himself towards the air with his arms, flipping in a motion that when he landed had him facing Nami, giving her a look of his front, which was as ripped as his back, with six-pack abs and all that. The fact that he was glistening with sweat and his damp hair was sticking to his forehead and neck only made him look hotter in Nami's very objective and truthful opinion. Luffy grinned when he saw Nami standing there looking at him intently. "Good morning, Nami! Sleep well?"

After a few moments she shook her head and nodded at him. "Yeah. Best sleep I had in a while, to be honest," she said as she approached him. She tried to not show how disappointed she was when he dried his body, face and hair with a towel before putting on his red button-up shirt. "So, how are you going to go about this training me thing?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Luffy grinned. "First we are going to spar so I can see just exactly at what level you are. After that we'll see. There are a few techniques you'll definitely need to learn if you want to survive the Grand Line. We'll start with that as a base and build up from there."

Nami blanched as a nervous expression appeared on her face. "I have to fight you?!" She almost squeaked, remembering how ruthless he had been when facing Alvida's crew yesterday. Watching him kill, maim and break them so effortlessly had been as horrifying as it had been awe-inspiring. The thought of fighting Luffy was one that terrified her.

Luffy, looking at her expression and quickly deducing what she was thinking, was quick to assure her. "Hey, don't worry. I'm not going to fight you like I did with those guys yesterday. That was a real fight to the death. They were trying to kill me, so I had to respond in kind. This is just a spar. I'm just going to be testing your skills. I won't even be using my sword and my pistol, so relax."

Visibly sighing in relief, Nami nodded. "Okay. Let's do it then," she said before she walked back a bit and making sure that she was considerably far away from the main mast. The ship that used to belong to Alvida was big, so there was enough space at the main deck that they could use for the spar without fear of getting close to something that might make it more difficult for them to spar. She pulled out her retractable bot staff and held it in the natural stance she felt more comfortable in.

Luffy took one look at her and smiled in approval. "You were self-taught?" She nodded at his question. "I can see that because of your stance. You look very at home standing like that and holding your bo-staff. While not having a formal style would normally be detrimental, I find it that instinctually doing what feels best coupled with actual fighting experience beats any kind of formal training. You have fought a lot in the past, haven't you?"

Nami scowled, recalling the many things she has been through in the past, both before and after Arlong. She simply nodded her head. "Yes."

Giving her another smile, Luffy slowly slipped into a defensive stance seamlessly. "Alright then. Come at me with everything you've got. I want to test your strength, speed, reflexes, flexibility, defensive ability and dodging ability. Be prepared for anything!"

Nami tightened her hold around her staff and she went on the attack. It didn't take long for Luffy to determine at what level she was as he evaded, blocked and parried her attacks. For someone without the training required to become truly a force to be reckoned with, meaning within what could be reached by a normal human, Nami was above average in strength, being comparable to Alvida's own strength. She fell a bit behind in the speed department but she made up for it with her decent reflexes, flexibility and dodging ability. She wasn't that good when it came to her defensive abilities though.

Honestly, she was better than he was expecting her to be. In comparison to yesterday's guys, Luffy estimated that she would've been able to take on three or four of them at the same time, which would have been more than enough to survive here in East Blue. However, since she was planning to go to the Grand Line, she needed much more than that. Luckily for her, Nami had ran into him and he knew more than enough to get her up to snuff.

He ducked under the swing that was coming towards his head from the right side and after following the momentum of her swing into spin which she used to get her staff in position to stab the end of the end if it towards his core, he simply grabbed it before it could hit him. He was grinning widely, not even sweating, meanwhile Nami was panting harshly and was starting to sweat. The spar had gone for about five minutes or so but it had been enough for Luffy to see all that.

"You have a very strong foundation, Nami. You are actually better than what I expected you would be," he praised her, laughing when she smirked and almost preened. "However, you are still far from where you need to be if you want to survive in the Grand Line. First of all, you need to increase your physical abilities way beyond where they are now. In second order, you need to learn a few techniques that will increase your combat ability. I'm going show you those techniques in a short moment, so you can see what your goal is. And lastly, but not as pressing, the bo-staff is a very good weapon but you might want to look into getting a weapon that is more… prone to cause permanent damage… like a glaive or a spear."

Nami nodded in understanding. "That seems sensible enough. As long as I don end up like a walking hulking mass of muscles, I'm willing to do whatever," she said honestly. There were few things she was not willing to do to increase her chances of survival, and one of them was jeopardizing her wonderful and sexy figure.

"Wouldn't even dream of it," he joked after giving her an appreciative look, both pleasing her and making her blush at the confirmation that he indeed found her attractive enough to at least take notice. Luffy laughed at her and shook his head before backing away a bit. "Now, pay close attention. These are the techniques I feel you should learn which lean more towards your set fighting style. The first one, and easiest to learn, is Soru," he said before disappearing only to reappear on forecastle deck in a blur of motion. In the same blur he went back to where he was.

As Nami gaped at him, he grinned. "It consists of having enough leg strength to move at extremely high speeds by kicking off the ground at least ten times in the blink of an eye. Then we have Geppo," he said before he jumped up… only to continue jumping up as he kicked off the air itself, causing Nami to gasp as she saw this. After a few moments. Luffy allowed himself to fall back to the deck. "After you have achieved enough leg strength use Soru, you only need to take it a couple of levels above that in order to be capable of using Geppo."

Luffy then walked back towards her and stopped when he was at a distance that she could strike at him with a staff. "And finally, we have Kami-e. This technique allows you to dodge attacks by making your body extraordinarily flexible, enough that it would seem like you are floating or bending your body like paper. Attack me as fast as you can." After a few moments of gathering her wits, Nami began to attack Luffy again and this time he only dodged, and she immediately noticed the difference from before, as his moves were now even smoother and more graceful than before, his body looking exactly like he said it would when he explained what the technique did. After telling her to stop when he deemed that she had seen enough, Luffy smirked at her. "So, what do you think?"

"Do you really think I will be able to do that?" She asked him dubiously. She was all for learning them, immediately seeing how those techniques would both increase her abilities in a fight and her chances at survival, but being able to move faster than what the normal eye could follow, jumping from the air itself and become flexible enough to move your body like it was made of jelly was way above of what she considered to be possible before. _'Perhaps he… No! It looks too good to be true.'_

Luffy nodded his head, easily waving off her concern. "Of course. With enough dedication, time and the correct type of training anyone can learn those techniques. So, as long as you do as I say and don't slack off, I'll you'll be able to use them in about six weeks' time if you don't skip a day of training, that is."

With a sigh of acceptance, Nami nodded and visible braced herself. "Alright then. I'm ready. Let's get to it. I have to check the course and then count the money I stole to get an exact amount of how much it was that I stole."

Luffy's answering grin was foreboding enough to make Nami shudder and not in a good way.

A few minutes later, Coby joined them and Luffy managed to convince him to join Nami in training. The poor boy did so with some eagerness at first but later was regretting it both because Luffy was an absolute bastard sadist when it came to training and because it turned out that Nami was even more terrifying than Alvida when she was angry. She was none too happy with Luffy after he put them through strenuous leg exercises and evasion practice that consisted in him throwing pebbles continuously at them.

That day, Nami only managed to check the course before she had to lay down because of how sore and tired she was. She fell sleep cursing Luffy to kingdom come and Coby passed propped against the main mast and without even eating as he was too tired to even move. Luffy, in contrast, was no different in how content he was feeling the moment sleep claimed him as he laid on his hammock.

 **.o0O0o.**

"So that's Shells Town," said Luffy musingly as he stared at the island from where he stood leaning against the railing of the forecastle deck of the ship. They were about four kilometers away from the island that housed it. It was mostly completely flat and there were very few threes from what Luffy could see. The tallest buildings there were the two main ones that made up the Marine base and they were surrounded by the buildings that made up Shells Town proper. "We arrived exactly in the time Nami said we would. That's my navigator for you alright!"

"I'm going to kill you," she growled from where she stood at his side wearing a long-sleeved thin shirt and jeans to hide the welts and bruises that were the result of her not being able to dodge the pebbles Luffy threw at them yesterday and today. She had been angry at him yesterday for the torture masked as training he had them do but the fact that he forced the same thing on them today had her wanting to strangle him and drown him. "And for the umpteenth time, I'm not your damned navigator!"

"Of course you are, silly," he said with a laugh. He ignored her snarl-of-anger/whimper-of-pain as he turned towards Coby. "What can you tell me about Shells Town? I only know that there was a marine base stationed here."

Coby groaned, and with visible effort, he raised his head to look at him. "Not long ago that was the only notable thing of this place, but a few days ago there were rumors that 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro was seen here."

Luffy's eyes gleamed in interest. "Oh! I've heard of him. He's supposed to be the strongest bounty hunter here in East Blue. I wonder if I should recruit him for my crew," he spoke thoughtfully.

Coby's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you for real?! It's been said that he's like a monster and that he's evil! It would never work out for you!"

"You don't know that for sure," he said with a laugh. "If he turns out to be a decent enough guy I'll definitely recruit him. It's guy like him that I want for my crew after all." He then turned back towards Nami, ignoring Coby's mutters of him being crazy. "So, this what we are going to do. I'll go first and cash in Alvida's bounty. After that I'll return to the ship with the money and go back to make a ruckus to make a distraction for you to sneak into the base and steal as much money as you can."

Seemingly forgetting her anger and soreness, Nami smiled brightly as she gave him a thumb up. "That's plan I can easily fall behind."

Luffy chuckled at her one-track mind when money was involved. "Besides, I need to start making a name for myself as a pirate. Raiding a marine base should be a good way to start, right? Shishishishishi!"

"Um, guys," spoke Coby hesitantly as he raised his hand. "You do know that I am planning to join the marines, right? I am afraid I can't allow you to do that now that I know you are serious about it. We might be friends, but that's something I can't condone in good consciousness."

After he finished speaking, Luffy and Nami exchanged blank looks before they turned towards Coby with identical evil grins on their faces.

It at this moment… that Coby knew… he fucked up.

A few minutes later he was whimpering and struggling against his bonds as he was being lowered to the sea in Luffy's boat. There were a few barrels with food and water to make it seem like he had set out on his own towards Shells Town. By the time he managed to untie himself and set the sails to make it to the island, Luffy and Nami would be long gone.

As they made distance between them, Nami waved merrily at Coby. "You are a nice guy, Coby, but I won't allow you to prevent me from getting my money!" The fact that she was going to steal the money from whom it actually belonged wasn't brought up. As far as Nami was concerned, all money belonged to her and she was just allowing everyone else to have it until she decided to take it back.

"And I am a pirate! This shouldn't come off as a surprise for you!" Added Luffy while grinning like a loon. "Besides, this actually works for you. Now no one would suspect you are even related to pirates since no one is going to see you get off the same ship as me so you should be thanking me!"

Since he was gagged, Coby's answering shout was just muffled gibberish.

After that, Nami took control of the ship while Luffy had untied Nina from it and relieved her from her work, telling her that she could do whatever she wanted as long as she stayed within hearing range and submerged. After an affectionate pat and a loving purr, Nina disappeared to the depths of the oceans to do what Sea Kings did when they weren't terrorizing humans or, in Nina's case, towing a ship and keeping it on course.

When they were just about to dock, Luffy went to the lower deck and retrieved a pouch of money just in case and took out Alvida who was still passed out, which told Luffy that either he hit her harder than he thought he did or that she wasn't as resilient as her physical strength would suggest. They both lowered the anchor and tied the ship to the dock using some of the rope they used to tie Nina to the ship and when they were set after folding the sails and lowering the flag they stepped towards the dock. Luffy, who was dragging an unconscious Alvida who had her head covered up with a bag, and Nami approached the dockmaster.

"How much for leaving our ship here?" He asked simply.

The dockmaster gave him and his cargo a weary look before he leered perversely at Nami, which ended when she grinned threateningly at him and made as if she was going to reach for some kind of weapon. He hurriedly turned towards Luffy, his face pale. "For… for how long you are going to stay?"

"We should be leaving by midday more or less."

"Then in that case it's going to be four thousand beries. One thousand per hour."

Nami looked ready to argue but Luffy had no issues with it, knowing that the price was about the same, perhaps a bit cheaper, back in Foosha. "Here you go," he told him after holding Nami back and passing him the amount it was required. The man quickly took the money and ushered them away after giving Nami a fearful look.

"That was a complete scam! That's almost double the amount of what I usually have to pay!" She complained, not mentioning the fact that she would always flirt with the dockmasters to get them to lower the prices for her.

"The larger the ship, the bigger the amount that needs to be paid to use the docks," said Luffy in a way of explanation. He ignored the shocked looks being sent his way as the inhabitants of the town noticed that he was dragging what seemed to be an unconscious 'Iron Mace' Alvida, who despite having her face covered, was still recognizable because here in the East Blue she was the only woman with her dimensions. "Besides, we have to keep as low as profile as we can until I can cash in this one's bounty and then attack the base if you want to get away with stealing from the base with no one being the wiser about it being you."

Nami hated the fact that he was right. "Fine! But from now on any time that spending money is involved, then I'm going to be the one calling the shots, is that clear?"

Luffy raised an eyebrow at her. "Does that mean that apart from navigator, you also want to be the treasurer of my crew?"

"Yes," she replied instantly. A moment later and noticing Luffy's grin, she began to rapidly shake her head. "I mean no! I just don't want to pay more than what it's needed for stuff. Money is important you know? And for the last time! I am not your navigator, Luffy!"

"Whatever you say, Nami."

After a few minutes, Luffy and Nami split up. Luffy made his way towards the marine base while Nami, to kill time more than anything else, decided, on Luffy's suggestion, to gather information on what kind of marines inhabited the base and to confirm whether or not 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro was actually here.

 **.o0O0o.**

It didn't take long for Luffy to reach the marine base and after stating his business at the front door, and showing them Alvida's face as proof, he was quickly ushered inside. The marine that was leading him towards the building kept giving him suspicious looks because of his get up and his weapons but thanks to Luffy's goofy grin he didn't do more than that. While they were on the path and passing a wired fence Luffy took notice of a figure tied up to a wooden cross.

' _He's got an aura of true strength and intimidation around him,'_ thought Luffy to himself as he looked at him. The man was wearing black trousers tucked into black boots, a plain white t-shirt with three buttons undone at the collar, a green haramaki around his waist and a black bandanna tied around his head. He also looked pretty scuffed up, his body covered in bruises, scraps and dirt. _'He obviously looks strong and the way he is tied up it wouldn't have been too difficult to set himself free. So, why is he still there?'_

Despite his curiosity, Luffy continued following the marine. He first took him to a holding cell in which he deposited Alvida after he took the bag that covered her head and the ropes that kept her tied up away. Just because he didn't like Marines, he neglected to tell them that without her being tied in the manner in which she was, it was going to be a piece of cake for her to escape from the cell using her strength.

After that, Luffy was taken to the treasurer of the base who blandly thanked him for turning the bounty of a known and dangerous criminal before he proceeded to count the money, all of it in paper format, in front of him. After that was done, the money was put in a suitcase and they gave it to him. Luffy just grinned at them and told them that it was a pleasure to make business with them before he merrily began to make his out, five million beries richer than he used to be when he had come in.

As he was making his way out, Luffy once again turned towards again towards the man tied up against a cross only to raise his eyebrow in interest when he saw that he was joined by a little girl with brown hair that looked to be pretty scared and a skinny and lanky-looking young man with light blonde hair shaped like a sideways oval on top of his head and a cleft chin that was wearing a purple tuxedo and white shoes who was being flanked by two marines in their standard garb. From where he was standing, Luffy could see what was happening and hear what they were saying.

"Well hello, little girl. These rice balls look pretty tasty," said the blond man with a nasally voice as he snatched the rice balls the girl had been presenting to the man that was tied up, who now Luffy noticed was glaring daggers at the blond man.

The little girl lost her scared look and she glared up at the blond. "Hey! Stop that! Those rice ball aren't for you! I made them for Zoro-oniichan!"

' _Eh? So that's 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro. That's one mystery solved, I guess. I'm still wondering why he has yet to set himself free if he is as strong as he looks and also supposed to be. There's more to this than him being captured and put in display like that to humiliate him,'_ he thought as he continued to watch on.

The blond man ignored her as he took a bite of one, only to grimace as he spat them back out. "Blegh! You put too much sugar in it! You are supposed to put salt in these things!"

The girl visibly teared up. "But… but I thought they would taste better if they were sweet…"

"How could someone eat something like this?! Damn it!" He threw the rice balls to the ground and began to stomp on them. Luffy scowled at this and he noticed that Zoro's glare had also intensified as his lips curled into a snarl of anger.

"Aah! Stop it! Stop! He won't be able to eat them anymore!" cried the little girl in distress as she knelt on the ground to try and stop the blond man from stomping on the rice balls, which was moot, since they were pretty much ruined at this point.

After he finished stomping on them, the blond man smiled mockingly down at her. "Don't worry. The ants will surely eat them," he said before laughing in a condescending fashion.

Even though this man was quickly earning his ire because of how cruel he was being, Luffy still kept enough wits about him to remain in control of himself. It was because of this that he also noticed that the ropes were straining against Zoro's muscles even if he was visibly restraining himself from breaking them so he could beat up the blond man if the glare on his face directed towards him was anything to go by.

Now crying, the little girl looked up at the blond man. "… That's so cruel. I… I worked really hard to make them…"

"Aww, don't cry! It's no wonder why hate brats so much!" He mocked her before he pointed at a sign that was right next to the cross to which Zoro was tied to. "It's all your fault, you know? Didn't you see what's written here? 'Anyone who helps a prisoner will be charged with the same crime. -Marine Captain Morgan-.'" Luffy took notice of how the two marines in standard garb and the little girl flinched when the blond man read 'Captain Morgan' aloud. The blond then knelt down in front of the girl and cupped her chin as he leered malevolently at her. "You know how scary my dad can be, right? You would've gotten the dead penalty if it was him who found you here."

When the girl paled, he laughed a loud and stood after patting her head condescendingly. He turned towards one of the marines that was flanking him. "Oi. Throw this brat out."

"Huh?!" The man looked shocked and appalled as he looked at the blond man.

The blond man quickly got in his face and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform. "I'm telling you to throw her out of here! Are you trying to disobey me?! I'm telling my dad! And you know what will happen to you if I do!"

The man, now visibly scared, just nodded his head shakily. "A… aye sir!"

Luffy watched as the man knelt down in front of the girl, who was now shaking, and whispered something to her that had her calm down a bit and nod minutely to him. He watched as the man allowed her to brace herself before he grabbed her by the scruff of her dress and threw her with only enough strength to make her cross the wall. Taking note of this, Luffy quickly used Soru and in a blur of silent motion he appeared at the other side of the wall just in time to catch the little girl by gently stopping her momentum and tucking her into his chest.

She looked up at him with confused and tearful eyes for a moment before she realized what had happened. She smiled happily at him as he set her down. "Thank you, onii-chan!"

"You're welcome!" He responded with a grin before he pointed towards wall. "Hey, did you sneak in to give that tied up guy some food? If he is being held up by the Marines then that means that he is a criminal and a bad guy, right?" Luffy knew that this wasn't the case but he was curious to know what happened.

"No, he's not!" Denied the girl vehemently with a shake of her head. "Zoro-oniichan didn't do anything wrong. It's just that the people of this town are afraid of him because of his reputation and because he looks scary. He got arrested because of me. He killed Helmeppo's pet wolf because he was letting it run around town and it was scaring everyone. It was about to bite me when Zoro-oniichan put it down."

Luffy raised an eyebrow at her. "So, he got arrested because he killed someone's pet wolf?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah! Helmeppo is Captain Morgan's son and everyone is afraid of them because disobeying them will get you executed and Helmeppo takes advantage of that to do what he wants in this town."

"I see," replied Luffy before he grinned and ruffled the girl's hair earning a cute and annoyed pout from her. "Thank you for telling me that. Now, go home and stay away from here, alright? We don't know what that Helmeppo guy will do to you if he sees you lurking around here after he ordered you thrown out like that, do we?"

The girl hurriedly nodded, thanked him again and scurried away further into the town. Luffy then turned towards the wall and using Soru again he found himself standing a few feet away from Zoro in blur of motion. Helmeppo and his two marine guards were nowhere to be seen at the moment. Luffy stared at Zoro for a few moments and he grinned when he saw Zoro raise his head to look at him with some surprise in his eyes.

"Who in the fuck are you?"

Luffy's grin widened. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy. And you are 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro. And I have decided you'll be joining my pirate crew!"

Zoro scoffed. "Pirate? Heh. So you just gave up on life and became a crook huh… ?"

"Nope," replied Luffy, grin not lessening. "It's my dream to become the Pirate King and there ain't nothing wrong with it!"

"Your dream, huh? I can't judge for that even if you are surely a fool because of it!" Said Zoro before he grinned nastily. "So? You gonna set me free and force me to join you then?" He challenged him.

Luffy shrugged his shoulders. "If that's what you want then I can set you free now. You'll be joining my pirate crew in any case though."

"You are really a fool," chuckled Zoro before he shook his head. "I'm not going to join you. I have unfinished business here. I just need to stay alive here without food or water for twenty-one more days and that bastard kid promised to let me go afterwards. I'm going to stay alive no matter what! Because if I can't overcome something as simple as this then I might as well give up on the path I have chosen and kill myself!"

After hearing those words and the conviction behind them, Luffy's grin threatened to split his face in half. "You are definitely going to become part of my crew! I'm going to wait for you to finish your businesses, even though I wouldn't put my trust in the words of trash like Helmeppo. Besides, it's not like I am in a hurry or anything," he laughed, momentarily forgetting that he was not travelling alone and that he was going to make a ruckus later so his travelling-partner-who-was-still-in-denial-about-being-the-navigator-of-his-crew could steal this base dry of money and other valuable things.

Zoro shook his head. "You might as well go and find someone else to join because it ain't gonna be me," said Zoro. When Luffy just laughed and turned to walk away he spoke again. "Wait! Before you go… can you pick up those rice balls and give them to me?

Luffy's grin softened into a smile for a second before he knelt down and picked up the ruined rice balls. "You want to eat this? They are all muddy but I guess you can't be picky about food when you are hungry…" he trailed off as he turned the ruined rice ball into an actual ball.

"Shut up! Just give it to me! Let me eat all of it!" Said Zoro, opening his mouth wide. His eyes teared and he got a strained look on his face when Luffy threw the rice ball directly into his mouth and he began to chew. After visibly struggling to swallow it, Zoro panted in exhaustion and coughed. "… tell that little girl… 'Thank you for the food. It was delicious. The best thing I have ever eaten.'"

Luffy's smile widened. "Will do."

Now he definitely wanted Zoro to be a part his crew. A man willing to throw away his pride to make a little girl that tried to help him happy after watching her being verbally abused while been denied of the chance to help him was a man that even Shanks would approve of. His reputation and supposed strength were truthfully just an added bonus. With a grin on his face, Luffy slipped into Soru so he could take the money back to the ship and find Nami as quick as possible so he could tell her of the change of plans.

Hopefully she wouldn't be too angry with him for it.

 **.o0O0o.**

Nami had a scowl on her face as she listened to the little girl that was the owner of the restaurant in which she had gotten something to drink after she spent some time exploring the town and gathering information on the marines here. She had been disgusted on how the leader of the Marines stationed here, a Captain Morgan, and his son Helmeppo, treated the inhabitants of the town as if they were their subjects. The fact that this confirmed Luffy's words about not all Marines being the paragons of law, order and justice only showed her that his temporary partner was someone sincere.

"… and that was when this tall onii-chan wearing a straw hat caught me. I also told him what happened with Zoro-oniichan before he sent me off."

Nami nodded before she perked up at her words. "A tall onii-chan wearing a straw hat?"

"Yeah," the girl nodded before cocking her head to the side. "Do you know each other?"

Nami nodded with a strained smile on her face. "You could say that," she simply answered. On the inside was another story. _'If that idiot has gone and done something ruin my chances of getting my money, I'm going to strangle him!'_ She thought, not noticing that the little girl had taken a step back because she was giving off an aura of death and a vein from her forehead was pulsing.

That was when she heard an annoying laugh and she turned towards it only to see everyone else making a path and quickly kneeling down and bowing for a thin blond-haired man with a cleft chin and wearing a purple tuxedo who was swaggering through the street as if he owned it. He was also being flanked by two marines who looked like they wanted to be anywhere but there. "Who dares raise his head? I'll tell my dad!"

' _So that's Helmeppo… it's the first time I see him, but I have the urge to shove my staff up his ass,'_ she thought to herself as she surreptitiously moved herself so she was out of sight from anyone. There was no way in hell she was going to kneel and bow before this fool even to mix in with the crowd.

"Do you want to be like Roronoa Zoro? I'm going to publicly execute him in three days! I'm going to use him to set an example for all of you! It's going to be pretty interesting…" he bragged with a disgusting grin on his face.

' _That fucking bastard!'_ She thought angrily as she glared at him from her position. The little girl had told her about what happened with Zoro, Helmeppo, his wolf and the deal between them. She had been surprised to hear that Zoro, other than his scary appearance and foul temper, was actually a decent guy who would sacrifice himself like to protect a little girl. To think that Helmeppo tricked him and was planning on executing him after making him spend nine days tied up to a cross and starving had her wanting to put nails on her staff before shoving it up his ass. She was conflicted, however, as she didn't want to go and call attention to herself before she moving in to steal their money, which would be a form of sticking up to him too to be honest.

Thankfully, there was no need for her to decide.

"Oi," said a serious voice and all eyes turned towards it and Nami's eyes widened when she saw it was Luffy who was slowly walking towards the smug looking Helmeppo. The bill of his hat shadowing his eyes and the corner of his mouth pulled down in a scowl. It was the first time Nami had seen him this angry and it honestly had her feeling a bit nervous because she knew what he was capable off when he wasn't being serious. "Didn't you say you'll give him a month and then you'll set him free?"

Helmeppo didn't noticed the danger he was in and just laughed in derision. "Who are you? How rude. I was only joking with him! Only an idiot would believe that!" He said before he began to laugh, not noticing how everyone turned to scowl at him.

Nami only saw Luffy gritting his teeth before he was sinking his fist into Helmeppo's face making it mold against it and likely breaking his nose if the cracking sound she heard was anything to go by before he was sent flying away. It was only because of his guards catching him that he didn't smack into the building at the other end of the street.

"I have decided!" Luffy declared as everyone began to mutter in shock about who he was and the fact that he had just signed his death warrant by hitting Captain Morgan's son. "I'm going to ask Zoro to join me crew!"

When Nami saw Luffy's eyes flickering towards where she was, she understood this was the 'ruckus' he was going to cause. She grinned before slipping away in the direction of the Marine base, momentarily ignoring the thought of how hot Luffy looked in her opinion when he went and punched that bastard right in the face.

 **.o0O0o.**

Luffy glared at the back of Helmeppo's head as he was being taken away by his guards who Luffy noticed were trying to hide their grins from their charge as they did so. When they disappeared after turning around the corner of the street, Luffy turned towards the little girl he had caught and sent away a few minutes ago. She was looking up at him with even more awe than before and he grinned at her. "You know, Zoro ate your rice balls. He told me to give you his thanks and that they were delicious and the best thing he has ever eaten."

"Really?!" The little girls' eyes lit up as she heard this.

Luffy nodded his head. "Really."

She smiled widely at him. "I'm so happy!"

Luffy just grinned at her before he began to make his way back towards the base. He was going to take it slow since he had to give Nami enough time to get into position to get in before he started the distraction in order to give her as much time as he could. Even though this had turned personal the moment Helmeppo declared that he was going to kill Zoro anyways and sooner than what he told Zoro he would set him free, there was no need to take advantage of the situation. The only difference now was that he was going to take a bit of personal pleasure out of it and hopefully get another crewmember.

Luffy arrived at the Marine entrance and with another application of Soru he was standing in front of Zoro again. "Yo."

Zoro looked up only to frown when he caught sight of him. "You again? Not even ten minutes have passed. Can't you even wait as long as you said you would? No matter, I already told you that I'm not going to become a-"

"Helmeppo just told the entire town that he was going to execute you in three days. He told me directly to my face that he was just joking with you and that just a fool would believe him. I told you that you couldn't trust trash like him," he told him seriously. There were moments for joking around but this wasn't one.

One look at Luffy's face and hearing the seriousness of his voice and also knowing that doing something like that was well within what that bastard could do made Zoro instantly believe him. "That motherfucking piece of shit! I'm going to kill him!" He declared with a snarl as he began to struggle to free himself.

Luffy nodded. "I didn't expect anything else," he said before he raised an eyebrow as Zoro continued to struggle. The ropes were straining against his strength but it was clear that Zoro couldn't muster the strength to set himself free. "Do you want help?"

"No! I can do it myself! I'm just a bit weak since the only thing I have eaten in the past nine days were those rice balls that girl brought. It's going to take my body a little longer to assimilate them and give me some of my strength back but even like this I can set myself free. It's just going to take longer," he said without stopping in his struggle to get free.

Luffy nodded, knowing that you didn't mess with a man's pride. "I take it that your sword was taken away from you, right? Where is it? I'll go look for it while you set yourself free. Then you'll show me the strength of my new crew mate."

"I already told you that I ain't gonna be a damned pirate you moron! I haven't done a single thing I have regretted in my life and I'm sure as hell not going to start now!" Shouted Zoro at him. "But I'll be grateful if you could get me my swords. Helmeppo took them with him when he tied me up. He has to know where they are."

Luffy nodded at him. "Alright. I won't take long. I expect you be free by the time I come back with your swords," he said before he seemingly disappeared in a blur of motion from Zoro's perspective much to his shock.

' _What the hell was up with that speed?! That's unreal!'_ He thought before another thing about their recent interaction came to mind. "And who the hell does he thinks he is to be ordering me around like that, huh?" He muttered in annoyance before went back to trying to set himself free.

Back with Luffy, he now stood on the flagpole that was on top of the main building of Marine base, looking down with his arms crossed and his expression blank as a bunch of marines used to rope to bring up a statue of the taller and more muscular man that was watching on with a smug look in his eyes. He had tanned skin, blond hair and a steel jaw. His right hand had been replaced by a huge steel axe with its handle going straight through his forearm and sticking out of his elbow without breaking his skin. He was wearing a billowing coat over a black shirt and blue stripped pants.

Helmeppo, who was also there, stood up in front of the tall man with an axe for a right hand while holding a napkin to his bruised face. "Dad! That kid that hit me! Why won't you help me take revenge?!" He screamed. His was voice even more nasally than before because of his broken nose and the tears of pain that were slowly trailing down his completely bruised face. "Even you haven't hit me before!"

"…" The man, apparently Captain Morgan since Helmeppo had addressed him as his father, slowly turned his head towards his son. "Do you know why I never hit you?" He asked, speaking around the cigar he was smoking.

"That's because I'm your son!"

Morgan nodded as he slowly stood up. "Yes, because you are a bastard son that's not even worth hitting!" He ended the sentence with a shout before hitting Helmeppo with his left fist and sending him sprawling to the floor with a scream of pain. "Why do I have to clean up your messes?" He asked rhetorically as he began to caress his axe almost lovingly. "You can do a lot of things in my name but I only punish those who oppose me!"

He then leaned down and got in his son's face while pointing at himself with his thumb. "Don't misunderstand. You are not the great one here! It's your father! Me!" He declared to Helmeppo who could only look at him crying while bleeding from his nose and mouth. Morgan stood up and looked away from him. "Rumors says that a little mouse went into the execution site. Is it true?"

"Huh..?" Helmeppo stammered. "You mean that little girl… I have already…"

"Have you executed her?!" He interrupted him with his question.

"Eh?! No! I mean, she was just a little girl that didn't know what she was doing! I didn't think it warranted an execution!"

Morgan ignored him and pointed towards a marine that had a goatee. "Hey, you! Go into town and kill her! I don't care how old she is! Whoever opposes me will die!"

"But… but… Captain!" Stammered the Marine as he paled. "She is just a little girl! I couldn't possibly do that to her!"

"Couldn't do it, huh?" Questioned Morgan as he began to approach the man he had addressed and who had just responded in the negative to his direct order. "You are a marine lieutenant, right? And the rank of lieutenant is lower than the rank of captain… isn't it?"

"Y… yes, sir!" Answered the man while slowly backing away from Morgan.

"Then you have no rights to go against my order!" Bellowed Morgan angrily. "If I order you to go do something, you go and do what I ordered you to do!"

"I can't-!"

"Traitor!" Shouted Morgan as he cut down the captain with his axe, leaving a deep gash across his back and flank. The other marines, even Helmeppo to an extent, were horrified to see this. "Never mind… for the sake of reminding the citizens… I'll go there myself." He said before he once again caressed his axe lovingly. "With this arm I rose to the rank of captain. Rank is the most important thing in the world. I am the highest-ranking officer in this base, which means that I am the greatest one here! Great men don't make mistakes! Do you all agree?"

"Yes, sir! You are absolutely correct, sir!" Replied the terrified marines saluting, all of them knowing that they weren't strong enough to do something against Morgan.

"Behold! This is the symbol of my power!" He declared, turning towards the statue of himself which was being slowly pulled up. "A statue that has been finished today after years of work! Now stand up my great statue! At the highest point of this base!"

Luffy had seen and heard enough.

"So… that's the symbol of your greatness, huh?" He spoke up, alerting everyone of his presence and sending Helmeppo into terrified screaming when he caught sight of him. Everyone else was looking at him with wide eyes. "If that's the case, allow me to show you just how great I think you are." He slipped into Soru and appeared crouched on the chest of the statue, which was possible since it was at a thirty degrees angle off the floor. With his index finger extended, Luffy's arm lashed out. "Shigan!"

Nothing happened for a few moments but then the entire statue cracked before it blew up into thousands of pieces. As everyone gaped in horror, Luffy slipped into Soru and appeared next to Helmeppo who yelped as he was grabbed by Luffy by the scruff of his neck. "Now you are going to take me to where you put Zoro's swords," he said simply before he slipped into Soru again and headed into building using the door that was located there at the rooftop.

"Capture him! I'm gonna kill him!" Screamed Morgan in rage as he pointed at the door.

"Yes, sir!" Shouted three officers before they grabbed their muskets and hurried into the building in direction of Helmeppo's room, since that was where Helmeppo had put Roronoa Zoro's swords and that was what the man that had destroyed Morgan's statue was after.

"Captain! The criminal at the execution site is attempting to get free! He's halfway done!"

"What?!" He bellowed, turning around and leaning over the edge of the rooftop to see that Zoro had someone freed his right arm and was now working on doing them same to his left. "Was this a conspiration between those two traitors?! No matter! Both of them are going to be executed personally by me! How dare they disobey and go against me?!"

 **.o0O0o.**

Nami had sneaked into base quite easily around the time Luffy was talking to Zoro for the second time.

She quickly hid away in one of the storage rooms after she saw that there were a few marines moving around. She stayed there, kneeling behind a barrel in case a marine suddenly entered so he wouldn't see her and only had to wait a few minutes before the distraction started. She heard the sound of something made out of rocks breaking on the roof before there was a commotion. A few moments after that there the sound of a flintlock being shot and then silence for another few moments before she almost literally felt all the marines exiting the base.

After she was sure that everyone had moved out, Nami quickly exited the storage room and began to make her way up towards the treasury, where she was sure were going to be the money and anything else of value she could take. "Luffy does know how to make a distraction. Now, let's hope it last long enough for me to take everything there is that can get me closer to my goal!" She told herself as she sped up, ignoring the ache from the training she had performed that morning and yesterday morning. _'Just wait everyone! In no time I'll buy our village back from Arlong and he will be out our lives forever!'_

 **.o0O0o.**

Luffy stepped out of Helmeppo's room holding Zoro's sword under his left arm and a dizzy Helmeppo with his right hand by the scruff of his neck. "I would leave you here but Zoro's got unfinished business with you, trash," said Luffy with some of the disgust he was feeling towards Helmeppo to leak out of his voice.

"Don't move! Raise your hands above your head!"

Luffy turned towards the origin of the three voices saying the same thing and he raised an eyebrow at the three marines pointing their muskets at him. "Really? I'm planning to do you guys a favor by getting rid of this guy and his father and pointing your guns at me is how you pay me? Damn. How ungrateful can you be?"

The three Marine's hesitated for a moment when they heard those words but that was more than what someone like Luffy needed. Before they could realize it, Helmeppo had been thrown at them with enough strength to send them to the ground. Luffy then used Soru and grabbed Helmeppo's body before it fell on top of the three marines. Luffy saw window at the end of the hall and knowing that it faced the execution site, just like the one in Helmeppo's room, Luffy broke through it.

He ignored Helmeppo's cries of pain as crystal shards dug into his flesh and instead focused on what was happening with Zoro at the moment. He was holding his shoulder, where had been obviously shot at, as he leaned against the cross to which he had been tied to. Dozens of marines were pointing their muskets at him while Morgan stood behind them watching and bellowing something, more than likely more bullshit about his supposed greatness.

When Morgan pointed his axe-hand at Zoro, Luffy knew he had less than a second to act. He used Geppo to chance direction in midair and while still in the enhanced state of Soru he used the speed to appear in front of Zoro just before the marines pulled on the trigger.

"Tekkai," he said simply as he put Helmeppo behind him. He was Zoro's to deal with as he pleased after all. The marines fired their weapons and under the shocked gazes of Zoro, Morgan, Helmeppo and everyone else there, they simply bounced off his body after the sound of bullets hitting metal was heard. Some of the bullets even found their mark in one of the marines that had shot, hitting them in different parts of their bodies but not in a place that would result in instant death.

Zoro, who had been thinking about his promise to Kuina and his dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman, could only stare at this man who had randomly decided that he was going to become a part of his pirate crew. He had heard the conviction in his words and had heard about his ludicrous dream, one even more crazy and impossible than his own. And yet here he was, taking a volley of gunfire meant for him and somehow not being wounded by them.

"Who… just who are you?!" Bellowed Morgan in rage as he saw this, completely ignoring the men that had fallen to the ground screaming in pain and the fact that the bloodied form of his son was being held by Luffy.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy. And I am the man that will become the Pirate King!" He declared simply before he turned towards Zoro and presented him with his swords. "There you guy. The bastard had them in his room. It was a bitch to get him to tell me where they were since he couldn't handle the speed at which I was moving. What a weakling," said Luffy as Zoro stood up and took his swords from him. "You know, after seeing you allied with me, they are going to see you as a pirate."

Zoro snorted as he put his swords where they belonged, at his right side being held up by his haramaki. "You did that on purpose didn't you, you bastard?" He asked him with a grin as he stood at his side, facing the marines who were scurrying to reach for their swords after they saw that their bullets weren't going to work. "Oi. I'm going to become the world's greatest swordsman! I don't care if I am an outlaw or not. I just want my name to be known as such worldwide! If you do something that ends up in the way of my goal, I'll cut your stomach open!"

Luffy grinned as he took a step back. "The world's greatest swordsman, huh?" He said, thinking about the monster that was the current holder of that title. A man so strong that he was on par with Shanks who was a Yonko. And Zoro said he wanted to be stronger than that guy. Luffy grinned in approval. "Good. As the First Mate of the crew of the future Pirate King, I'm not going to hope for anything less! If you can't accomplish something like that then I would be embarrassed as well!"

Zoro smirked. "Well said," he said before he unsheathed his three swords in a smooth motion, holding one in each hand and one in his mouth. "Then, allow me to take care of this rubbish, Captain," he said before he moved forward at speeds that surpassed by far of that of the marines that were running towards them their own swords in hand.

Luffy watched with a grin as Zoro made quick work of them, his overall fighting ability being way beyond of that of the marines. If Luffy had to make and accurate estimation, Zoro's abilities were enough for him to survive at the Grand Line and just beneath the level they needed to be to start learning the Rokushiki, which was extremely impressive for someone in the East Blue. Luffy also noticed that Zoro didn't kill even one of those marines, only shallowly cutting them or rendering them unconscious by hitting them in the head with the flat of his swords, which spoke of his already high level of skill.

Zoro dispatched the last of the marines and he turned towards Luffy, a grin of his own on appearing after he pulled out the sword that was in his mouth. "Were you impressed enough by your choice for a First Mate, Captain?!"

Luffy laughed. "You bet I was, Zoro. You are truly strong! Now, allow me to show you just under what kind of strength you are going to be serving," he said before disappearing and appearing behind Zoro, who turned around just in time to see Luffy catching the axe blow from Morgan that was meant for him with his hand, the blade not even cutting into it. Zoro jumped back to give the two of them space and so he could see the fight better. The ground cracked under them but Luffy's grin didn't even falter for a second as he held Morgan's axe without strain. "Attacking your opponent from the back is cowardly and impolite. Allow me to educate you. You seem very attached to this axe of yours too…"

Luffy tightened his hold around Morgan's axe and the sound of metal groaning was heard before the head of the axe was broken in a hundred pieces. Morgan backed away, now looking at the grinning Luffy in fear, before he shook his head and threw himself back towards Luffy this time attempting to hit him with his left hand curled into a fist. "I am 'Axe-Hand' Morgan! I am the greatest!"

Luffy scoffed. "No, you are not," he said simply as he ducked under Morgan's strike, putting a hand on top of is straw hat to keep it in place since Morgan's attack generated winds strong enough to possibly kick it off his head. With the same motion Luffy lashed with a kick towards Morgan's left knee, the result of which sent him down with a scream of pain. "You are just a cruel fucker in a position of strength with delusions of grandeur. Shigan," he said as he stood in front of a kneeling Morgan. Before the Lieutenant could as much as speak, Luffy's finger found itself buried in his forehead, killing him instantly.

Morgan fell limply towards the ground face first and Luffy leaned down to almost idly clean up his finger from blood and gray matter on his coat. He turned towards Zoro to see him stabbing Helmeppo through the chest with two of swords.

"Thought you were so smart by tricking me, huh? This what you get you blond shit," he said before he pulled out his swords from Helmeppo's body. Zoro watched dispassionately as he fell forward and stood eerily still. He had died the moment his swords had pierced his heart and lungs so it had been quite merciful actually. Morgan's death had also been quick. It was way more than what the two of them deserved if what the two of them did to the inhabitants of Shells Town was even remotely true, which they knew it was.

"Oi. Zoro. Let's get something to eat. Since it's going to be your first real meal in nine days and to celebrate you joining my crew, it's going to be on me. The drinks too," he said with a grin as he began to walk towards the entrance of the base. His grin widened when he heard the marines start to celebrate the death of Morgan, apparently not caring one way or another about the fate of Helmeppo.

"I already like you more than anyone I currently know, Captain," replied Zoro with a matching grin as he sheathed his swords and fell into step next to Luffy, the two of them laughing a they discussed what they were going to eat. One would look at them and not think that Zoro had just escaped custody and killed the son of the captain of this marine base and that Luffy had just killed said captain.

 **.o0O0o.**

"Man… that hit the spot…" said Zoro as he patted his full belly before he began to drink from tankard full of bear. He, Luffy and Nami were sitting inside the restaurant named Food Foo, which was owned by Rika's, the little girl that had gone to give Zoro the rice balls, mother Ririka.

When the news of Morgan's and Helmeppo's death had reached the inhabitants of Shel's Town, a town wide party had begun in earnest. Ririka had somehow learned that Luffy and Zoro were responsible for that and she had invited them to her restaurant to eat for free. Luffy and Zoro had of course accepted, knowing that you didn't refuse free food when offered since it was rude and dumb in equal levels.

"You tell me," said Luffy with a satisfied sigh as he leaned back into his chair and putting his hand behind his head. He turned towards the other occupant of their table. "Oi, Nami. Aren't you going to eat more? It's free food after all."

Nami just shook her head at him. "I already ate enough. I'm not a gluttonous pig unlike you two," she sniffed at them with mock disdain before she gave Luffy a serious look. "We really should be going, Luffy. I only left enough money there to make it seem as if they weren't robbed until they check for real. Also, I found something of interest in Morgan's secret safe. And it's going to take us about a week and a half to get there. We must make haste if we don't want to waste this chance."

Luffy saw the seriousness in Nami's voice and nodded in agreement. "Alright then. Zoro, you heard our navigator. Let's go," he said before standing up. He grinned at Rika and her mother, who just smiled widely and gratefully at him in return.

They did the same towards Zoro, the only difference being that Rika hugged him around his leg and thanked him when he waved at her much to his embarrassment. That had everyone who saw the interaction laughing.

As they stepped out of the bar, they encountered the marines who were not too injured to move. Nami stiffened almost imperceptibly at his side but Luffy kept his head cool as he nodded at them. "Good day gents. We were just about to leave. There's no need for a confrontation."

A marine with a goatee stepped up. "If you are going to leave, then that's good. We are grateful for you disposing of Morgan and his bastard son, but since we are marines and you are pirates, we can't allow you stay here any longer. To show our appreciation, we won't tell HQ of your appearances when we report this incident."

Before Nami could deny the fact that she was a pirate, Luffy nodded at them. "It was of no issue. We will be out of your hairs in a few minutes. Nami. Zoro. Let's go. We don't want to bother these fine gentlemen any longer."

Nami and Zoro nodded before they followed after him.

A few minutes later, the ship that Luffy and Nami stole from Alvida and had its appearance modified was sailing away from Shells Town, with the group of marines seeing them off and saluting. It was to this scene that Coby finally arrived. He stood on the boat gaping as he saw marines saluting whom the surely knew to be pirates. Weren't they also aware of the fact that they had been robbed by the people they were saluting? Needless to say, he was at a loss of words.

The same man who had spoken to Luffy a few minutes ago peered down at him. "And who might you be, young man?"

Coby snapped into a salute. "My name is Coby, sir! And I would like to join the marines, sir!"

The man nodded. "You can join but keep in mind that we have just saluted a group of pirates that helped us get rid of our previous captain and his son because of their cruelty. Without them, all of us and this town would have been dead before the next new moon. As such, we just established a punishment of a week without food. Are you still willing to join our ranks now?"

Coby's eyes widened at that. What he was seeing was making sense. _'If that was the case then, I'm not going to tell them those same pirates robbed them of their money since it seems they don't know about it. I'm going to let them find out on their own and feign ignorance, which is going to be easy since they don't know I knew Luffy and Nami were going to do it. As such, I deserve the punishment!'_ Coby nodded his head resolutely. "Yes, sir! I would like to join now! Becoming a marine has always been my dream. A week without food is nothing comparing to realizing my dream!"

The man nodded, smiling tightly. "Good. Men! Let's head back to our base. We have bodies to burn and a lot of thrash to throw out!"

All of them, including Coby who was still standing on the boat, saluted and responded, "Yes, sir!"

 **.o0O0o.**

Back in the marine cells, deep in the prison portion on the base, a hulking figure that was propped against the wall stirred.

A few moments later, dark green eyes opened.

"Monkey D. Luffy…" muttered the owner of those green eyes in a daze before they focused on her surroundings. Despite knowing that he was the man responsible of her being in this cell, she still blushed at the thought of him. "Wait for me! I'm going to become strong and beautiful enough to be by your side!"

Alvida had awakened and she had a new purpose.

* * *

 **So… this happened. After reading finally getting up to date with One Piece and reading a bunch of fanfics with Luffy having a logia as a fruit, or knowing Haki and/or the Rokushiki at the beginning, I knew that I had to try my hand at of my own. So, in true I Ate Your Muffin fashion, I went and gave my Luffy the Rokushiki, knowledge and a rudimentary use of Haki (Meaning, that while he is far from being at the level he is at this point in canon, he is further than what he was before the time skip) and the Goro-Goro no Mi as his Devil Fruit. Future results? Canon will turn in on its head, I can assure you. And we saw that on this very first chapter.**

 **The idea of using the Lord of the Coast in this manner was inspired by the story "D de Destino" by FxRobalino. If you understand Spanish, you should go and check it out. It's quite good, if a bit silly at times. Also, everyone keeps saying that when authors get Luffy to start with a Logia, they mostly give him Enel's fruit, but I only saw that in "Nine Minutes" by serpentguy and the story didn't even begin in East Blue. It's probably because they are so old and have not been updated in more than two years or so, which means that this would be the most modern story with Luffy having lightning powers. Eh, I'm cool with that.**

 **Fair warning. Since chapters are going to have more than 20k words, don't expect updates in less than a month. Next chapter we are going to have some training, the stuff with Buggy, more training, Usopp and depending on whether or not I have reached the 20k mark, the first movie ordeal with El Drago, which I decided to include after reading it in Vimesenthunsiast's "Stallion of the Line", which you should definitely go read, like, right now.**

 **Oh, the next chapter for AHWA should be out in a few days at the most.**

 **See ya!**


	2. Of Clowns and Liars

**Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda. Any other none original concept belongs to their respective owners.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Of Clowns and Liars**

* * *

"Alright, now I have definitely seen it all," muttered Zoro dryly as he stared as Luffy tied some rope around a freaking Sea King, whom he had explained to be the crew's pet along with being the one in charge of keeping their course straight by towing the ship. He watched as the Sea King, who was apparently named Nina, purred as Luffy patted her head before telling her to submerge herself so she could do her job after which he jumped back to the deck. He sweat dropped. "For some reason, I feel like I shouldn't be surprised."

"And now that that's taken care of…" trailed off Luffy as he walked towards Nami who was making the last adjustment to their course while standing in front of the helm holding a map and a compass while muttering to herself. "So, how much did you get from the Marine base, Nami?"

"Around five million or so. I still need to count it to get an exact amount. It would've been much more if it weren't for the fact that they just paid you Alvida's bounty and the fact that the construction of Morgan's statue was bleeding them dry," she replied automatically with some annoyance as she was still focused on her task. She wanted to set their course as perfectly as she could in order to take the least amount of time to get to their destination.

"Is that so? So, you only need ten million to reach your goal, right?" When she nodded, again almost absently, Luffy grinned in delight as he patted her on the back. "That's great. That means then that you won't have any more excuses to travel with me and you'll finally admit that you are my navigator!"

"I'm not, nor ever will be, your navigator! Get it through your thick skull you moron!" She screamed at him after making the last adjustments to their course. She calmed down after sighing in defeat when Luffy just laughed at her. "Ugh. Never mind that. Anyways, we should be reaching the Orange Islands, where Orange Town is located, in about ten days. That's were we need to go."

"You mentioned something about you finding something of interest when you were urging us to leave," said Zoro, joining them after he was finishing wrapping his head around what he had seen and also exploring the ship. He had to see if it was big enough for him to train comfortably in and he was pleased to say that it had more than enough space for him to do so. He had brought all of his training equipment with him and the fact that he could use it straight away and whenever had him in a good mood.

He also needed to ask Luffy about that technique he used to make bullets bounce off his skin. There was also that speed. Zoro knew that being able to do feats like that could be accomplished through training and he wanted to learn anything that would help him cover the weaknesses that as a swordsman he would have, like for example being unable to defend from and also reach long-range fighters.

At Luffy's curious look, Nami began to explain. "When I was looking for the treasury of the marine base, I came across Morgan's secret safe, which I thought would contain more money. But it turns it was supposed to have the map on how to get to the Grand Line according to what was written inside. I was about to leave since you told me that you know how to get there, but instead of the map there was a sheet of paper with the mark of Buggy the Clown."

"Buggy the Clown…" muttered Luffy as he thought about what Shanks had told him about his crewmate when he was part of the Roger Pirates when he was drunk and was willing to share stories of his past. From Shanks own words, they had parted on neutral terms at best, but it was possible that Buggy still hated Shanks because of something Shanks did to him in the past. "He used to belong to the Roger Pirates when he was a kid and is supposedly strong enough to head into the Grand Line and I've also heard that he ate a Devil Fruit, meaning that he's got a power of some kind. He shouldn't be too much of a pushover, considering that he has a bounty of ฿15,000,000 on his head."

"Not only that, but he's rumored to have a treasure worth of ฿10,000,000… probably more now since I know for a fact that he's in Orange Town. I saw his ship when I was heading towards where Alvida was rumored to be sailing and that's how I recognized his symbol. If he's still there then he's been likely raiding the town for around two weeks now, more than enough time to drive the townspeople out and start looting the houses for anything valuable," said Nami with a grin, excited at the prospect of reaching her goal without even heading to the Grand Line.

Normally she wouldn't even dare to mingle with someone of Buggy's caliber, but she had Luffy as her partner now and knowing him, he was very likely to be interested in his bounty. It worked perfectly for the both of them.

Zoro grinned in excitement at this, grasping the handle of Wado Ichimonji tightly. "So, we are going to go there and challenge this funny pirate then?" When Luffy nodded with a grin of his own, Zoro's grin widened. "Excellent! I know about the code of pirates about captains fighting each other but I'm sure there will be someone strong in his crew for me to fight."

"We'll find out about it when we get there, but in any case, you'll deal with his crew while I deal with Buggy himself. In the meantime, Nami will sneak into whenever they have their treasure and take as much as she can, since that's our deal," said Luffy, getting an agreeing nod from the other two. "That means that in case anything goes wrong, which I doubt to be honest but it doesn't hurt to be prepared, I'm going to up the intensity of your training Nami."

As she groaned, suddenly recalling that she was still sore, Zoro turned curious and interested gleaming eyes towards him. "You are training her? In what?"

"In three techniques out of a style of six that will help her survive because we are going to be heading to the Grand Line," said Luffy, ignoring her claim of her not needing to go anymore if Buggy turned out to have a treasure worth ten million beries. She was his navigator after all so she was going to the Grand Line with him. She was just still in denial. "You actually saw three of them earlier: Soru, which was how I moved so fast, Tekkai, the one that I used to make the bullets unable to pierce my skin, and Shigan, the one I used to kill Morgan and it allows me to pierce targets with my finger at speeds resembling that of a bullet's."

"He said he was going to teach me Soru, Geppo, which makes you literally able to jump off the air and Kami-e, which makes you able to bend your body inhumanly allowing you to evade attacks coming from almost anywhere. He calls it training but I'm sure he's just a sadist," said Nami, glaring at Luffy while ignoring how Zoro raised a skeptical eyebrow at being able to jump off the air. "Why are you only going to teach me three of them if they are six? And what's the sixth one?"

"Answering your questions in reverse order. That would be Rankyaku," said Luffy and instead of telling them, he opted to show them. He jumped in the air, using Geppo as he had seen the skepticism on Zoro's face when Nami spoke of about being able to jump off the air, before he lashed out with a kick towards the ocean. A wall of water as high as the crow's nest of the ship as the ocean was split in half for a length of a bout fifteen feet. Luffy grinned at the gaping look in Nami's face and Zoro's suddenly very interested expression. "And I never said I was only going to teach you those three techniques. It's just that you first need to become proficient with Soru and Geppo before you can learn Rankyaku, and the toughness needed to be able to use Tekkai and Shigan can only be acquired by the… grueling… method of learning Kami-e. I would have taught them to you eventually," he said with a shrug.

"Teach me," said Zoro simply as he stared intensively at Luffy. Soru, Geppo and Tekkai could be the answer to his weakness as a swordsman against long range fighters. Rankyaku too after he modified it to be able to use it with his swords instead of his feet since as a swordsman, he didn't use those to attack. He could also devise a stabbing speed technique based off Shigan, but Soru, Geppo, Tekkai and Rankyaku where the ones he felt were more pressing for him at the moment. Kami-e didn't hold interest for him whatsoever, but he would train for it in order to be able to use Tekkai and later on, Shigan, to see what he could devise based off the latter.

"Sure," said Luffy with a shrug and sharing Zoro's pleased and excited grin when the green haired man, a fact that was revealed when he took off his bandanna back at Food's Foo in Shells Town, did as well. "Though we should maybe wait until tomorrow. I know those injuries of yours are of no issue, but they can slow you down and you want to take advantage of every bit of training when trying to learn the Rokushiki."

"What do I do in the meantime then?"

Luffy shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever you want, I guess. There's not much to do other than training thanks to Nami and Nina," he said before pointing at Nami, who was walking away while muttering to herself as she headed to the captain's cabin. "She spends her time counting her money, studying navigation books and drawing maps. I like to eat, drink, take naps and gaze at the clouds."

Zoro nodded in understanding before a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "You've got booze?"

Luffy nodded. "Dozens of barrels worth of it in the hold."

"Imma get piss drunk then."

"Sure. Just be sure to be ready for training early in the morning."

Zoro waved him off uncaringly as he began to walk away. "Sure. That won't be an issue, Captain."

Luffy watching him descend to the hold with a chuckle and a shake of his head before he shrugged and went there himself to procure himself something to eat and drin so he could enjoy cloud watching as it was supposed to be enjoyed. That reminded him that he needed to get an actual cook for the crew soon. He could make a simple meal that was sufficiently nutritious himself, Makino and Dadan made sure of that, but he was never going to enjoy a delicious one if he relied on himself.

' _Not only a cook, but I also need someone to act as a master gunner. A carpenter is going to be essential when we finally make it to the Grand Line too. A doctor/surgeon is a no brainer and finally, a musician, for no voyage is complete without songs and merriment,_ ' thought Luffy, his grin weirding out Zoro slightly as he passed him with two bottles of rum held in his hand.

The next day, with the sun not even fully out, found Luffy and Zoro facing each other in the main deck of the ship. Luffy was grinning while Zoro was looking at Luffy with a raised eyebrow, something he was starting to realize was going to be his default expression whenever his new captain was involved. "You want to spar with me with both of us using our swords?"

He was glad that the sabre Luffy held at his waist was not for show but he didn't know about them facing each other in a swordsman duel. He had no illusion about the fact that Luffy was easily stronger and faster than him but in a contest of swordsmanship only skill and experience with a blade mattered. On that he knew he was superior to Luffy at least.

"Yeah," said Luffy as he unsheathed his blade and held it loosely at his side. "I am no swordsman but I'm decent enough with a sword. Sparring against an actual swordsman can only help me get better with my technique so this is mostly for my benefit. Though you can also use these spars to both get used to fighting someone faster and physically stronger than you and as warm up for the actual training sessions."

After a few moments Zoro shrugged his shoulders and nodded in agreement before he tied his bandana around his head and pulled out his three swords and held them at the ready in his opening stance of the Santoryu he developed to be able to match Kuina in the past. This might be only a spar, but Zoro knew that he needed to give it his all and take it seriously if he wanted to keep up with Luffy. "Ready when you are, Captain!"

Luffy's answering wild grin was matched by Zoro's as they both jumped at each other.

About an hour later, Nami woke up and after checking that they were still on the course she had set, which they were thanks to Nina, whom she would never stop thinking as a godsend, she went down to the main deck only to stare blankly as she saw Luffy and Zoro, the former sweating a bit and the latter panting and practically bathed in his body's temperature regulation liquid, trying to apparently kill each other with their respective bladed weapons.

If it weren't for the fact that she could clearly see the happy grins in their faces, she would've thought they were trying to kill each other after their egos clashed after disagreeing about something while she was sleeping.

Luffy was the first to notice her. "Oh! Hey there, Nami! Good morning!" He said while ducking under one slash from the sword Zoro held in one hand while parrying the one that came from the other side with the sword that Zoro held in his left hand. He retaliated with a downward vertical slash that Zoro blocked by tilting his head, putting the edge of Wado Ichimonji in its path. "Did you sleep well?"

"Oi! Pay attention!" Shouted Zoro, not letting Nami respond to Luffy's question, his words not muffled despite the fact that he held a sword in his mouth. He had apparently gotten used to speak like that after many years of using Santoryu. He directed two diagonal slash strikes towards Luffy's midsection, only to scowl and grown in annoyance as Luffy easily evaded them by jumping back with a laugh. "Take me seriously, dammit!"

"This is as serious as I can be if you want to be able to even see me move at your current level. Trust me. There are only a handful of people here in East Blue that would be able to handle even this much from me. The fact that you are keeping up and demanding even more speaks very well of you, Zoro," said Luffy with sincerity, grinning when he saw Zoro looking away in embarrassed disdain. "In any case, now that Nami is finally here we can finally start training for real."

At that Nami could only groan as she began to drag herself towards them. She wasn't as sore as she was but with Luffy's promise of intensifying what was already an insane regimen she could only dread what was coming. Zoro saw this and he also approached Luffy, wondering why Nami was acting as if she was willingly walking towards her death after Luffy mentioned that they were going to start training for real.

' _How bad could it be?'_ he thought to himself. When he saw Luffy's absolutely evil and sadistic smirk, however, he had to pause as he shuddered from head to toe. _'Oh, shit. I just jinxed it, didn't I? Fuck me. Well, no pain, no gain, as they say.'_

 **.o0O0o.**

The following nine days were hell on earth for Nami and an eye-opening experience for Zoro.

Because of the increased intensity of the tortu- training, Nami went to bed each day feeling like she was going to die before she even had a chance to count her money and draw maps, leaving her only able to study her navigations book and eat something (She had demanded Luffy to cook for her and take it to her room because she couldn't power through the pain to make the going and coming trek that getting food required after the training sessions) before exhaustion sent her to sleep, only to repeat the same thing the next day.

Thankfully, yesterday had been different for some reason and even thought she still felt the pain, she could move with just a little difficulty. When asked about it, Luffy only replied that she was progressing and that her body had gotten used to the intensity of the training. Nami was just glad she could walk around normally. Now if only the pain would go away…

In Zoro's case, it was the complete opposite. He had trained hard for his entire life, anyone could see that, but he had never done the kind of specialized training that required making you capable of learning how to use the Rokushiki. Thousands of continuous squats while weighted down and attempting to dodge pebbles moving with almost the speed of a bullet while also weighted down… it was crazy and insane and he loved it. Add in his normal upper body training, sword training and his spars with Luffy, Zoro could literally feel how he was getting stronger every day. The fact that Luffy had commented that he had to up the rhythm of their spar a bit noticeably only three days after they begun training only served as proof as to what Zoro was feeling. And he also got to get drunk every night and no one said nothing about it was the icing on the cake.

This served to keep both Nami and Zoro sufficiently occupied but even that wasn't enough for them to notice that other than his spars with Zoro and a few random exercises that anyone could do, Luffy didn't seem to train, opting to spend his time gazing at the clouds, napping, eating and drinking while they worked their asses off. The only reason they didn't call him out on it was because he was obviously many times stronger than them, even more so in Nami's case than Zoro's, but they still wondered.

What they didn't know was that Luffy trained during the night, using special weights provided by his grandfather that would increase their own weight after analyzing the bearer's current strength. It was the reason why he spent the days taking naps but they were not going to find about that until later.

Currently, the three of them were lazing around the deck. Zoro was leaning against the foremast while meditating, Nami was just enjoying the salty wind of the ocean against her face while standing against the railing of the forecastle deck and Luffy was cloud gazing while lazily rocking his hammock from side to side. Today was the day they were supposed to reach Orange Town and they have just finished their training session which had not been as intense for obvious reasons and where just waiting for the island to appear over the horizon.

Nami perked up when she saw a boat with three men. She could see that the boat had the Buggy Pirates jolly roger in its single sail and they were headed directly towards them. With a grin, she turned her head back. "Hey, you two! Good news! Buggy is still here! Come and take a look!"

Luffy and Zoro walked towards where she was and shared her grin when they saw what had caught her attention. "Excellent," said Luffy simply. He wasn't precisely looking forward to fighting Buggy since he knew that with his bounty, he wasn't going to be a good challenge but said bounty was of an amount that could prove to be useful later on. He still needed to make a name for himself and defeating the big names here in East Blue was a sure way to go around accomplishing that.

"What are we going to do about them? I can see the smug and greedy grins on their faces from here," said Zoro in a bored tone as he could also see that the three men on the small boat weren't even worth unsheathing his swords to deal with them.

"We'll ignore them. Let Nina take care of them."

Nami turned towards him with wide eyes. "What do you mean by…" she trailed off as she saw Nina rise from the depths she was swimming in right next to the boat just when it was about a hundred meters away from them. Even though Nina was roaring at them, Nami could hear their screams of horror which were abruptly cut off when Nina lunged towards them and snatched them up in a single bite without even harming the boat. "Ne-never mind," she stammered weakly. She supposed that giving them a quick death by becoming the meal of a Sea King was better than dying from the beatdown Luffy and Zoro were surely going to unleash on them for daring to attack their ship.

Zoro blinked before shrugging. "Eh, that's one way to take care of them," he said, ignoring how disturbed he felt at Luffy's adoring and encouraging words towards Nina, who actually _blushed_ and ducked her head in pleased embarrassment before purring and submerging back. "I'm never going to get used to that."

Oh, Zoro, you poor fool. You don't even know half of it.

A few minutes later they passed by the boat and Nami perked up when she saw the chest that was on it. "Let's get that!" She exclaimed. Luffy saw what she was talking about and with a quick application of Soru he brought it to their ship. Nami laughed happily when she saw that it was full of beri coins and expensive looking jewelry. She turned towards Luffy with hopeful eyes. "Can I keep it?"

Luffy laughed. "I can't say no to a cute expression like that, now can I?"

"Thank you!" She squealed in delight before she went to put it with her things after she gave Luffy a hug that he enjoyed very much for the few seconds it lasted.

"Don't tell me she's got you wrapped around her little finger, Captain," teased Zoro with an infuriating smirk.

"Nah," denied Luffy easily with a chuckle. "My navigator likes money and there's no reason for me to deny her if she wants it from those I know for sure wont need it. Besides, the happier she is, the faster she'll stop being denial about her role within my crew."

Zoro just shook his head at him.

About an hour later they were within sight of Orange Town. Luffy could make out the vague outline of a bright purple colored ship that resembled a circus tent which he quickly deduced was Buggy's. He was about to tell Nina and Nami to change the course, so they could use the same tactic he used against Alvida when they heard the sound of a cannon being fired. Nami and Zoro ducked as an absolutely big explosion went off above them.

Luffy had caught sight of the red cannon ball that was the cause of the explosion and his only reaction was to narrow his eyes as he looked up at the slowly dispersing smoke from the explosion, ignoring the splash of the burnt body of a bird twice his size falling to the ocean next to their ship. _'That was strong enough to easily destroy the ship. An explosion like that I can shrug off but Zoro and Nami are not on that level yet. I can't let them hit us,'_ thought Luffy.

"What the hell was that?!" Shouted Nami in panic as she rose back to her feet while widely looking towards the purple ship.

"I think we were spotted and that's was the welcoming present," said Zoro calmly as he also stood up, crossing his arms as he narrowed his eyes towards the ship.

Before anything else could be said the sound of a cannon being fired was heard again and Luffy noticed that the explosive cannonball was going to hit them directly. Knowing that he couldn't let it even get too close, Luffy quickly used Soru and Geppo to quickly jump into the air and he twirled around as he lashed out with a kick so fast that not even Zoro caught the movement. "Rankyaku!"

The incoming red cannonball was split in half by seemingly nothing and it exploded prematurely about a mile away from where they were. Luffy ignored the gaping looks and turned towards them with a serious expression. "Let's use the smoke of the explosion to cover our change of direction so we can approach them on foot. Those cannonballs make it too dangerous to face them like this and I am sure they can fire more of those at the same time and I'm not sure I'll be able to deflect all of them. They are going to be busy dealing with their own issues right about now."

 **.oO0Oo.**

Buggy was having a great time that day. His men were almost done looting the town which meant that soon they would be able to go raid the other towns located in the Orange Islands in order to get enough treasure to comfortably head into the Grand Line so he could conquer it. He knew that with the power granted by his Bara-Bara no Mi and his explosive cannonballs designed by himself, the Buggy Balls, he was going to be able to pull it off.

' _Just you wait, Shanks, you flashy bastard! Your days are numbered! You think you can almost cost me my ambition and then go and become a major player in the Grand Line while I rotted away here in the weakest of all seas and not expect me to do something about it! Hah! Think again!'_ He thought as he sat on his throne that he had set on the docks that he had taken for himself after arriving at Orange Town. The Big Top, his precious ship, looked imposing behind him.

"Captain Buggy, sir! There is an incoming ship with blank sails and flag! What should we do?!"

Buggy turned towards the member of his crew that told him that and laughed. "Gyahahahaha! This is the opportunity we have been waiting for! I was going to use the Buggy Balls on the town after we finished raiding it to test them, but we have a more viable target now! You know what to do!" He said, his voice having a high-pitched tone that curiously enough matched his appearance which resembled that of a clown's.

His crew hurried to prepare the cannon and not a minute later the first shot was sent towards the ship. Buggy was somewhat annoyed because they had missed and had instead hit a bird that was flying a few hundred feet above the incoming ship but he was pleased to see the size of the explosion knowing that it was powerful enough to easily destroy the incoming ship. Before the smoke from the explosion could even start dispersing, he ordered for a second shot to be fired. He knew that it was possible that this ship carried something worth stealing but at the moment he was interested in seeing for himself the effectiveness of his Buggy Balls.

The expectant grin on his face quickly disappeared when he saw his Buggy Ball exploding prematurely after being somehow split in half then he screamed in shock, his mouth and eyes going comically wide when he saw the main mast of his ship also being cut in half along with part of the upper portion of the foremast and the mizzenmast. He stared in horrified shock as they fell to the deck, heavily injuring and/or outright killing a few of his crewmates who had not been able to move away in time.

' _What the fuck?! Was that Eric 'The Whirlwind'?!'_ He thought furiously knowing that the mercenary was the only one in East Blue capable of creating wind blades that were strong enough to slash through rocks meaning that the wood of which his ship was made was nothing to him. He didn't know that he could make them big and powerful enough to reach them from over a kilometer away.

While hiis crew panicked and Mohji and Cabaji were trying to calm them down so they could deal with the situation, Buggy grit his teeth as he glared at the cloud of smoke that was obscuring his view from the ship that housed the one that had just ruined his ship and likely set back his plans for weeks. _'I'm going to flashily fucking kill that flashy fuck! He's no match for me and my Bara-Bara no Mi!'_ He was after all immune to slashing attacks which he knew where the bread and butter of Eric 'The Whirlwind'.

"Everyone able to fight go into the town and intercept that bastard! Mohji take Richie and go with them! Cabaji! Stay with me!" Shouted Buggy, his anger getting the better of him and making him take an impulsive and quite stupid decision. What's worse, he was actually the smarter member of his crew, and in their own anger, they just roared they their agreement as they clamored for revenge. Even Cabaji, who was usually the level headed one and the voice of reason, was angry enough that he agreed with his captain's decision.

Unluckily for Buggy and his crew, who couldn't be more wrong about the identity of the assailant.

 **.o0O0o.**

After their ship arrived at another set of docks that were located at another part of the town that was also facing the ocean, confirming in the process that either the inhabitants of the town were either killed or forced to flee away since there was no one to be seen, Luffy, Nami and Zoro quickly anchored the ship and tied it to the docks. Luffy then told Nina to go and approach Buggy's ship and not reveal herself until he called for her. He was feeling a bit vindictive after Buggy attempted to destroy their ship and he had a plan to go around getting revenge for that.

"Let's go. We don't have long until they get their wits about them after I cut down the masts of their ship. We must hit them while they are still busy dealing with that," said Luffy, expecting for Buggy to make the sensible decision of waiting for them after witnessing an attack as powerful as that one. Common sense dictated that playing on the defensive along with superiority in numbers gave the advantage.

It wasn't like the outcome would change if Buggy did that but it was what Luffy would have done in a similar situation. As a pirate that apprenticed along Shanks with the Roger Pirates he expected at least that much from him.

Nami and Zoro nodded, also thinking the same as Luffy, and they quickly began to make their way in the direction where the docks in which Buggy's ship was anchored at. Nami was surprised at the speed at which she was moving and the fact that she could keep up with Luffy and Zoro, whom she knew for a fact were way faster and stronger than her.

Eventually, she deduced that they were holding back a lot in order to let her keep up with them, Luffy easily more so than Zoro. What she didn't know, however, was that the green haired man was surprised that he didn't have to do so more than what he was doing. Luffy wasn't that surprised since he had been training her for the past eleven days.

The trio reached a town square, which curiously enough had a small white dog standing protectively in front of a store that by its name apparently sell food for pets, when they were forced to stop and stare when a group of more than twenty pirates that looked more like a circus act appeared from the other end of it. They were being led by a man with a hairstyle that made him resemble a teddy bear, a half shirt made of fur, blue pants and a sash tied around his waist. He was sitting on top of a great lion that was taller than Luffy at the shoulders that had golden brown colored fur and its mane was of a curiously royal purple color.

Luffy took one look at the lion and how strong and intimidating it looked before pointing at it with a blank expression on his face. "I want it," he said simply.

"Don't you have enough with Nina as a pet?!" Asked Zoro incredulously as he unsheathed his two unnamed swords. This lot wasn't even worth him using all three of his swords, much less Wado Ichimonji. And after the intense nine days of training and sparring with Luffy taking them seriously was simply out of the question.

"One does never have enough intimidating creatures on their side that can fight and wreak havoc," said Luffy wisely as he popped his knuckles with a wide grin on his face. "Alright, I'll take the lion, so I can take it away from that teddy bear guy since he looks to be its master. Zoro, he looks the strongest out of all of them, so you take him on. Nami, it's time you see how much you have grown since I started training you. The fodder is for you to deal with."

While Zoro just nodded in agreement, Nami turned towards Luffy with a wide-eyed look of scandalization. "Me?! Fight them?! No way!" Sure, she has been training a lot and she had seen that she had grown faster noticeably and she was feeling excited at literally feeling her chances of survival increasing, but going from that to willingly fight a group of more than twenty pirates that were a foot taller than her and three times her body mass was a totally different story.

"If you don't get used to what you are capable off, then me training you would have been be for nothing," said Luffy after giving her serious look before he smiled reassuringly at her. "Trust me. You'll be fine. You are way stronger than what you think you are."

Nami found herself flushing a bit under his earnest look before she huffed and looked away in annoyance. "Fine! But I'm running away back to the ship if I as much get a scratch! And I'll be expecting you to bring me Buggy's treasure along with giving me his bounty when you cash it in!"

Chuckling, Luffy did not comment on the fact that Nami obviously trusted him enough to believe that him defeating Buggy was already a given thing and simply nodded at her. "Deal."

Mohji, having enough of waiting and not hearing what they were saying, pointed dramatically at them and began to shout. "My name is Mohji 'The Beast Tamer'! I am the First Mate of the Buggy Pirates! We are here on Captain Buggy's order to take revenge on what you did to our ship! Attack my comrades!" He said pompously, the pirates roaring in approval as they charged towards the trio while he held back.

Nami saw this and knew that she was up first. "I'm so going to regret this," she said before she sighed and pulled out her bo staff, took a few step forwards and waited at the ready. She immediately noticed how slow they were moving and her eyes widened in realization. _'Luffy's pebbles move way faster than this when he throws them at us and I can see them coming at me. These guys are nothing compared to that!'_ She thought with an excited grin that scared the incoming pirates before she lashed out with her staff when they were close enough, sending one of them to unconsciousness after she caught him right in the temple.

Mohji and Richie gaped in disbelief when they saw this small, in comparison, orange haired girl start smacking around his crewmates with a grin on her face. She was almost dancing around them, easily evading their attacks and lunges while striking back using that long staff of hers along with mixing it in with a few kicks that held more than enough strength to also knock out and cause enough damage to have the pirates screaming pain if they were not rendered unconscious immediately.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at Luffy, who was not surprised but visibly pleased. "Are you sure she wasn't this strong before you started to train her? There's no way she's gotten like this after just eleven days of training, no matter how intense and hellish," said Zoro, wincing in sympathy when Nami caught a pirate in between the legs with a rising vertical strike with her staff, making that pirate give a high-pitched squeal of anguish before he passed out and fall to the side, twitching erratically while grabbing his crotch.

"She was strong enough to take on two or three of guys like those before I started training her and she was already very skilled using that staff of hers. She's got lots of potential to become truly strong and with the kind of training I'm putting her through she's just starting to realize it. I'm excited to see what she will be capable of doing once she reaches the level necessary to use the Rokushiki and starts to branch out on her own," said Luffy with a grin as Nami knocked out the final pirate with thrust of her staff that caught said pirate right in the nose, breaking it in the process.

Nami, just breathing a bit heavily, had a grin on her face as she looked around at the defeated pirates she had defeated almost effortlessly. This was enough for proof for her to realize that Luffy wasn't just simply leading her on so he could betray her later which subconsciously she was still thinking. She knew that before Luffy's training doing something like this would have been impossible for her. The fact that she could do it, and that Luffy knew that she could do it, spokes volumes to her and shed some light to Luffy's perception of her.

Both Mohji and Richie soon got over their shock and with snarls on their faces, Richie's significantly more menacing and intimidating than Mohji's, lunged towards Nami ready to tear her to tiny chunks of flesh. Said orange haired girl could only yelp in shock as she raised her staff protectively in front of her body, not being fast enough to move out of the way in time. Thankfully for her, Luffy and Zoro were more than ready to interfere in case something like this happened.

"Hey that's not nice," said Luffy chidingly as he appeared in front and slightly to the side of Nami and stopping Richie from advancing by grabbing it by its mane, making it whimper in a bit of surprised discomfort as this action resulted in him pulling the hairs of its mane. Before Mohji could get in a word otherwise Luffy reached towards him, grabbed him by his fur shirt and hurled him back towards where Zoro was.

"No! Richie!" Shouted Mohji, but he was forced to jump back to evade an attack from Zoro but he was only mildly successful as a deep gash appeared on his right forearm while another less profound one appeared on his mid-section. Mohji grunted in pain and he turned towards Zoro with a glare as he pulled out his whip. "I'm going to kill you!" He declared before he sent the end of his whip towards Zoro, who easily ducked under it.

"Yeah, good luck with that, wierdo," replied Zoro blandly.

Back with Luffy, he had forced the giant lion away from Nami, much to her relief as she settled down to get her energy back and also watch what was going to happen, and now he was grasping its neck while pinning it to the ground where it was struggling to get free to no avail. "So, your name is Richie, huh? You seem stronger than that guy who is fighting my friend. Why do you follow him?" He asked, genuinely curious about it.

At the question, Richie got a glazed over look before it shook its head and began to trash about again. It even attempted to bite Luffy, but much to the surprise of both of them, Richie managed to sink its fangs in but not pierce Luffy's skin.

"Holy crap! That bite of yours is something else! I'm definitely taking you with me," said Luffy with a grin before he got a focused look on his face as he locked eyes with Richie. Luffy brought forth his focused Haoshoku Haki and directed it exclusively at Richie. He could only do it for a few moments, longer than that and he would unleash it upon the entire town, so he hoped it would be enough to make Richie submit.

Richie's eyes widened as it felt something inside of it snap but instead of getting angry and starting thrashing around, it turned towards Luffy with quite the grateful look in its eyes before it passed out. Luffy also felt that and he managed to follow that link of sorts towards Mohji and judging by what he had seen and felt, it had been established against Richie's will. Luffy released his hold on the lion's neck and smiled down at it before patting its chest and turning around to watch how Zoro was dealing with Mohji.

Mohji's eyes widened and he faltered when he felt his link with Richie breaking. "No! What have you done?!" He shouted towards Luffy, turning away from Zoro feeling confident of the fact that he had him handled considering that his whip was wrapped around his arm. The link he had forced on Richie was a hypnotic one that forced Riche to see him as something akin as an older brother. He had almost died when he had approached the Menean Lion, a rare breed that could only be found in some key islands on the East Blue and now all of that was shot to the proverbial drain.

"Don't insult me by taking your eyes off me!" Shouted Zoro before with a grunt he used the hold Mohji had on him with his whip to pull him towards him. Mohji only had time to turn his head and widen his eyes before he found himself impaled straight through the chest. Mohji coughed up blood as he tried to raise his head weakly, but Zoro kicked him off his sword and he died just before his body hit the ground. "Tch, he could use that whip of his decently enough, but he was still a weakling," muttered Zoro as he cleaned his bloodied sword on Mohji's fur shirt before sheathing them.

Before Nami and Zoro could approach Luffy and ask him just how he had managed to knock out the gigantic lion without hitting it they heard a gasp coming from the end of the town square they had come from and they turned towards it only to see a somewhat elderly looking man with gray hair that has been arranged in three lumps: two on the sides and the front. He wore a yellow lined shirt with dark green pants and a brown armor chest-plate with gauntlets.

"You… you… defeated those damned pirates like it was nothing! They forced us out of our homes about twenty days ago! Please! Help us! I'm willing to pay you!"

The three of them exchanged looks before Luffy and Zoro shrugged while Nami slowly approached the old man while wriggling and rubbing her hands greedily as she smiled sweetly. "Oh? You are willing to pay us? How much are we talking about here?"

It was in that moment, that Boodle realized that he just might have changed one evil for another.

 **.o0O0o.**

"I think we might have made a mistake, Buggy, sir…" said Cabaji with some hesitation as he stood next to Buggy, who was sitting in his throne once again, as they stared in the town's direction. It had been long enough that Mohji, Richie and the others should've been back, either with the beaten body of the one that destroyed the masts of their ship or because they escaped after they realized they stood no chance against this foe.

"You don't have to tell me that, Cabaji!" Shouted Buggy in his high-pitched voice as a vein throbbed on his forehead. After the initial burst of anger had left him, Buggy had quickly worked out that whomever had done it, it couldn't possible had been the mercenary Eric 'The Whirlwind' simply because this was not where he was known to work which was between Reverse Mountain, Loguetown and the Conomi Islands. It was possible he had come to take his bounty, but that was not the man's style. And he also worked out that the mercenary wasn't strong enough to pull something like that off…

Which meant that this was someone even stronger which shocked Buggy since this was East Blue, the weakest of all seas. That meant that whoever was coming for him could possibly have a method to negate the immunity he had to slashing type attacks. It was because of that reason that Buggy took another decision, this one a bit more sensible considering the situation. "Cabaji. I want you to flashily shoot as many Buggy Balls as possible into the town."

"But, Captain Buggy!" Shouted the feminine sword user and acrobat as he looked on appalled. "That would be sentencing Mohji, Richie and the others to death!"

"They might as well already be dead for all we know! I can't let whoever this is to come after us, kill us too and take my treasure for themselves. I'd rather die than let that happen!" Shouted Buggy back with an angry expression on his face. It wasn't like he didn't care about his crew but Buggy was a realist with pessimistic tendencies which resulted in him more often than not expecting the worst that could happen. In this case, he wasn't that far off from the truth since Mohji was indeed dead but the others were still alive and in quite a bit of pain except for Richie, who was just momentarily unconscious.

Cabaji hesitated for a moment but nodded after he also realized there was nothing else they could do. "It will be done, Captain Buggy," he said, bowed and went to carry out his captain's orders, as much as he felt like he was betraying his crewmates. Still, his captain had a valid point and it was best to play it safe rather than hope for the best when it was obvious that their enemy was strong enough to counter the Buggy Balls and destroy the masts of their ships.

 **.o0O0o.**

"… Shanks would definitely not be happy with Buggy if he learned what he had been doing here," muttered Luffy after his awe at Chouchou, the white dog that even after all this years was still guarding his owner's shop out of loyalty for him, diminished enough for him to hear the end of Boodle's tale about how Buggy and his crew had come one day out of basically nowhere and forced them to flee to outskirts of the city less they get killed.

"What was that?" Asked Zoro after hearing Luffy mutter under his breath.

"Nothing," said Luffy, waving him off as he went toward the unconscious Richie. He was not about to leave him in the middle of the town square after all.

"We are going to take down Buggy and the rest of his crew, Major Boodle, for the right price of course," said Nami greedily. She decided that she was going to keep to herself the fact that they were going to do that anyways and when Zoro opened his mouth to say exactly that, she glared at him, prompting him to close it with an audible click.

Boodle sighed in relief. "Thank you so much! We are a modest town and there's not a lot we can offer, but we can come to an agreement afterwards. I promise you on my honor as the major of this town that we are going to repay you however we can," he said truthfully, bowing deep at the waist.

Luffy, who had picked up Riche effortlessly and had put him next to Chouchou who was now giving the unconscious menean lion a wary look, was about to assure Boodle that there was no need to pay them, since they had been about to do that anyways and Buggy's bounty and treasure were more than enough for them, when suddenly they heard the shot of a cannon being fired and then the ground shaking as an enormous explosion occurred a few hundred meters away and setting a decent portion of the town on fire, black smoke rising into the air.

"That was definitely Buggy using those explosive cannonballs of his," said Zoro blandly as he stared up at the crown of the fire that could be seen from where they were.

"Is he insane?!" Shouted Nami as she rose back to her feet from where she had thrown herself to the floor. "Not only is he attempting to destroy the town but his also going to kill his crewmates!"

Luffy had his eyes narrowed his he looked in the direction he knew Buggy was. "You can't really fault him. By this point he should know that those he sent to intercept us have been defeated and possibly killed if they haven't returned. His cornered and he knows that. And cornered animals tend to lash out as a last desperate attempt to survive."

Boodle, who had thrown himself to the ground due to the explosion, shot to his feet with a snarl on his face. "That scum! Not only he forces out of our homes to take away our hard earned and precious things, but he is also attempting to destroy our town?! I'm going to kill him myself!" He shouted, reaching for his spear and starting to charge towards where Buggy was. He didn't take to steps before Luffy calmly chopped him the back of his neck and caught him before setting him next to Chouchou who was now growling at him.

"Why would you that?!" Asked Nami in shock.

"He would've gotten himself killed if he had gone there. This way, the worse he is going to suffer is a mild headache for a few hours," said Luffy before another explosion was heard as another portion of the town was destroyed. Luffy frowned as he looked down at Chouchou, who had calmed down after hearing Luffy's explanation as to why he had knocked out the friend of Master Hocker and who also brought him food every day. "Can you look after these two while we deal with Buggy and whomever is left? I know I can count on you, Chouchou."

Chouchou just nodded at him taking a few step forwards so he now also stood in front of the unconscious forms of Boodle and Richie.

"Good boy," said Luffy with a smile before he turned serious again and looked at both Zoro and Nami. "Let's go," he said simply before the three of them began to make their way towards where Buggy was. It only took them a few seconds since they were moving faster than before, Nami being capable of keeping up with them since she was pushing herself to see just what her current limits were.

When they arrived, it was to see Buggy's mastless ship anchored next to a dock that was wide enough to erect a circus tent on top of it.

Luffy momentarily ignored the gaping look the clown resembling fellow, obviously Buggy, was giving him as he noticed an effeminate man was hurrying to put a red cannonball that was bigger than normal and had painted on its surface Buggy's symbol in the all-directions adjustable cannon that was part of the figure head of the ship, which resembled an elephant, with the cannon serving as the elephant's trunk.

He also noticed that for some reason, the circus tent was filled to the brim with barrels full of golden coins and precious things, meaning that Buggy's treasure was there instead of inside the ship. Luffy didn't know what possessed Buggy to do this, arrogance and desire to show off perhaps, but he was glad because it made it easier for him to implement his plan.

"Nina!"

"Who the fuck-!" Buggy began to shout only for it fall short inside his throat and he almost choked on his own air and saliva as a gigantic Sea King with brown scales rose from the water next his ship and it only stopped rising until it stood noticeably taller than the previous height of the Big Top's main mast.

Nina glared down at Cabaji and the injured members of Buggy's crew that were still conscious as they gaped up at her in terror before she roared and lunged. Instead of attempting to eat them, however, she coiled her body twice around Buggy's ship, her body being long enough that she managed to do that and a significant portion of it was still inside the water. Cabaji only had time to drop the Buggy Ball he was carrying, which didn't explode since it needed the gun powder off the cannon for the explosive reaction to begin, and jump off the ship before Nina constricted her body around the ship, cracked it until it was deformed and dragged it to the depths of the ocean along with the rest of Buggy's crew.

Buggy ignored the fact that Cabaji had been able to save himself as he stared at the churning waters in which his ship used to be. The only thing remaining where a few chunks of purple wood floating around. "My ship…" he whimpered before he snarled and turned to the one responsible, the man wearing an eerily familiar straw hat and pointed angrily at him before screeching in his high-pitched voice, spittle flying out of his mouth. "You flashy fucking bastard! Who the hell do you think you are?! You have any idea of what you have done?!"

Luffy just shrugged his shoulders uncaringly, as if he hadn't just somehow gotten a Sea King to sink a ship of considerable size like it was nothing. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy. I am the man that's going to become the Pirate King. Your bounty and your treasure are going to help me get started on that, Buggy," said Luffy simply as he prepared himself. He didn't know what kind of Devil Fruit Buggy ate, but if you knew that one of your opponents had the power of one, you always prepared for the worst in case it was something powerful and/or troublesome. He doubted it, but when Monkey D. Garp beats something into you, it was difficult not to do it on instinct -read out of fear of punishment via 'Fist of Love'-.

Buggy gritted his teeth in anger as he pulled out his knifes, which he held between his fingers, as he pointed them threateningly at Luffy. "If you think I'm going to let you take away my treasure you have another damn thing coming! I'll flashily kill you and then I'll take your ship and your treasure and add it to mine! The one that's going to become the King of Pirates is me!"

"For some reason, I doubt that," said Luffy dryly before he lashed out with a roundhouse kick to the air faster than what Buggy could see, much less react. "Rankyaku." In the blink of an eye Buggy was split in half horizontally at the waist. Luffy, however, noticed something strange right away.

"Gyahahahaha! I'm immune to cutting attacks you fool!" Pretty much confirmed Buggy as he split the rest of his body in various pieces that were floating around in the air, but his feet were firmly rooted to the ground however. His head turned towards Cabaji as he noticed that while Luffy had not reacted other than with a raised eyebrow, his two companions were gaping at him in disbelief. "Cabaji! Kill the green haired one and the orange haired harlot! Leave the straw hat wearing fucktard to me."

Cabaji pulled out his unicycle, mounted it and unsheathed his sword. "As you command, Captain Buggy!"

"Did some of the stuff that was supposed to go to your cranium to act as a brain went instead to your big and ugly red nose, Buggy? You don't tell your opponent how your power works while you are fighting them," chided Luffy, grinning as Zoro unsheathed his swords and put Wado Ichimonji in his mouth after he realized that Cabaji was a proper swordsman despite the fact that he was mounted on a unicycle and blocked his charge easily. He turned towards Nami. "His treasure is inside the tent. Go do your thing. We will deal with these two."

Nami, at the mention of acquiring more money, quickly shook off the shock seeing a man literally splitting himself, staying alive and even somehow talking without his head attacked to his neck, where the vocal cords where located, and nodded at him. She used her newfound running speed to quickly make her way towards the tent which she could see for herself was filled to the brim with valuable objects and more importantly, money.

Buggy saw this and snarled towards her. "I'm not going to let you get my treasure! Bara-Bara Ho Kirihanashi!" One of Buggy's hand, along with some of his forearm, shot towards Nami at speeds that were far faster than what Nami could react to as she turned towards the incoming attack with wide eyes as she kept running, unable to do anything to stop the knives Buggy was holding in between his fingers from skewering her.

However, when Buggy's attack was almost a yard away from hitting Nami, a gunshot rung out followed by Buggy's scream of agony as his fingers were forced to release their hold on the knives since they couldn't close anymore because of a bullet piercing right through Buggy's wrist and damaging the nerves there. Seeing Buggy's hand hanging limply as it crashed to the ground next to her, Nami sighed in relief as she continued to run towards the tent while Buggy, crying in pain, turned towards Luffy to see him slowly turning his smoking pistol towards him with a grin on his face.

"You said that you were immune to cutting attacks. Let's see how yo fare against the piercing damage done by bullets and blunt force trauma," he said as he raised his fist until it was next to his face. Luffy pulled the trigger of his pistol while aiming for Buggy's other arm as he jumped towards where the rest of Buggy's body parts were floating around.

It was at that moment that Buggy knew, as he yelped while trying to evade being shot at or hit by Luffy's punches, unable to do anything else unless he wanted to get shot again, that this wasn't going to end pretty for him.

Back with Zoro, the green haired swordsman had an annoyed look on his face as he blocked all of Cabaji's sword strikes with relative ease. The effeminate man knew how to correctly swing a sword and where to aim his strikes at least and that unicycle of him gave him quite the unpredictable mobility. However, other than that, this man's fighting ability was average (To him, really, since Zoro wasn't really fair to those weaker than him) at best. He would have had a few issues fighting him if it had been before spending nine straight days sparring and training with Luffy, but now, to him this man was nothing more than a joke. He didn't even need to get serious on the first place.

"Hmph, it seems like you can actually use those three swords of yours, Roronoa Zoro! I should get serious too then! Behold! Kyokugi! Kaji Oyaji!" He shouted before he breathed a ball of fire that was the same height as Zoro and three times as wide.

Zoro's left eyebrow twitched. "Oi, aren't you a swordsman? What's up with those parlor tricks, huh?!" He shouted before he used the sword on his left hand to cut the fireball in two right in the middle, letting the two halves pass by him without doing much as he could ignore the heat easily. Zoro glared at Cabaji as he pointed at him with that same sword. "I'm going to cut you down in an instant if you don't take this seriously!"

"I'm taking it seriously, you asshole! Kyokugi! Kamikaze Hyakkoma Gekijo!" Cabaji shouted before he pulled hundreds of spinning tops from… somewhere… and began to hurl them at Zoro at decent speeds.

The green haired swordsman, who had been attempting to job Luffy's bullet-like pebbles for the last nine days, saw them moving in slow motion. Heck, even before joining Luffy he would've been able to easily deal with this. With a click of his tongue, Zoro began to effortlessly cut the tops in half, not even needing to use Wado Ichimonji which he was holding his mouth. Truthfully, using Santoryu with this guy was overkill, even without being serious about it.

Cabaji stopped hurling tops at Zoro the moment he realized they were being countered easily. "I'm not done yet! Kyokugi! Noryo Uchiage Hanabi!" Zoro watched with blank expression as Cabaji somehow went up a wall with his unicycle, summersaulting in the air after he reached the edge and positioning himself in such a way that now he was right above Zoro with his sword posed to stab him from above. "Ichirin Zashi!" He shouted as he began to rapidly descend.

Zoro's response was to tilt his head to the side and with that motion he easily stopped Cabaji's attack with the flat side of Wado Ichimonji. "I told you to take this seriously!" Shouted Zoro before he struck with his swords in a downward diagonal slash, making twin deep cuts that went from Cabaji's right shoulder to his left hip, making the effeminate acrobat scream in pain as he began to bleed profusely. Zoro watched dispassionately as he sheathed the swords of his hands and then Wado Ichimonji. "This was a disappointment. But I can't say I don't like the increase in strength after only nine days training with my Captain."

Back with said straw hat wearing captain, he had a smirk on his face as Buggy glared at him while panting harshly. Buggy had tried his best to dodge Luffy's attacks and shots but the teen was just too fast for Buggy to keep up for an extended period of time in his current situation.

Using the powers of the Bara-Bara no Mi normally didn't take a lot to maintain as long as he kept his body parts within the limit distance that allowed him to control them and he kept his feet on the ground. Luffy had managed to injure him many times, both with punches that hit hard enough to rattle his bones and damage his organs and many shots from his flintlock and bullets were bullets.

"Where… where did you get… that straw hat… you flashy… bastard?" Asked Buggy, his head swaying from side to side and almost dropping to the ground as he began to feel more and more fatigued with the second.

Luffy chuckled as he pushed said straw hat with the muzzle of his flintlock. "Shishishishi! Your good friend Shanks entrusted it to me ten years ago. You know, he told me about you and what happened when you were apprentices in the Roger Pirates. I doubt he remembers though, since he was drunk and laughing his ass off as he recalled your time together. Told me he was the reason you got your powers and couldn't swim anymore too."

"That flashy… bastard… I'll kill him… when… I get my hands… on him."

Luffy shook his head. "Yeah… I'm afraid that's not going to happen anytime soon. Night, night."

The mental strain caused by trying to keep his body parts floating, attempting to dodge Luffy's attacks while also being in a world of pain turned out to be too much for Buggy as his eyes suddenly rolled to the back of his head and his floating body parts, except for his feet, dropped to the ground, most of them with visible nasty bruises and bullet wounds that were bleeding in quite the worrying manner.

Luffy sighed in disappointed as he pulled away his pistol. "Aw, he passed out due to the blood loss and the pain. And it was such a fun target practice too," said Luffy with a pout as he began to gather Buggy's body parts except for his head, which was what the only thing he needed to cash in his bounty. Besides, it wasn't like Buggy was going to die due to the bullet wounds, much less to the damage done to his body by his punches.

Not like he cared, really, but it wasn't like he was about to give weak enemies he defeated a chance to comeback and annoy him in the future. So, with that in mind, Luffy promptly dropped Buggy's body parts into the sea, where they sunk straight down like rocks due to the power of his devil fruit. If it was even possible, Buggy looked even more unconscious and more like a clown than before with his skin pale white, his mouth and eyes opened comically wide and his tongue hanging limply outside.

"What's up with him?" Questioned Zoro curiously after he approached him, not batting an eyelash at the sight of his captain holding Buggy's head like it was an everyday thing. What was truly disturbing was that Zoro could clearly see that Buggy was clearly still alive somehow.

"Devil fruits users' true weakness is oceanic water. I hurled the rest of his body into the ocean, so he is in kind of a coma right now. The only way he would ever wake up would be for someone to retrieve his body parts, which I very much doubt will ever happen," said Luffy. He knew he could have killed him, but he felt that since he used to be friends (kind of) with Shanks in the past, an eternal dreamless sleep with the remote (extremely unlikely) chance of ever waking up was better. "So, if you ever encounter someone with a Devil Fruit power that you can't overcome using sword skills, just flick some ocean water at them. That should give you an opening you can take advantage off," said Luffy in amusement before laughing.

"Dully noted," replied Zoro with a sweat drop as he wondered, not for the first time, if his captain was right in the head. Still, his advice, even if it was intended as a joke, was something he was going to save for future reference. Luffy spoke of Devil Fruits as if they were pretty common in the Grand Line and knowing the stories they told about those waters he wouldn't be surprised if weirder and more powerful and more ridiculous Devil Fruit powers existed there. _'Yep. I'm so upping my training after today, no matter if it's already insane as it is right now.'_

A few minutes later Nami joined them somehow carrying five bags full of riches. Luffy and Zoro turned towards the tent they sweat dropped when they saw that there only remained empty barrels. _'Does she get a strength boost or something when it comes to money?'_ Luffy wondered internally as he raised an eyebrow at her. "How much did he have?"

Nami huffed in annoyance as she glared at Buggy's head after getting over her shock of seeing in its current state. She didn't wonder how he was still alive because she had already seen him detach part of his body like it was nothing. "The rumors about the amount he had were exaggerated, surely by himself for some reason or another. I only gathered around ฿7,000,000, likely a bit less than that," she sulked as she looked at the five bags which she had left on the floor momentarily.

"Yeah, about that…" Luffy trailed off and he smiled in nervousness as Nami turned sharply towards him. He gave Zoro a betrayed look when the mam wisely got away from Nami's sight and left him to his own devices. Luffy sighed and turned towards Nami who had her arms crossed. "I don't think you should take all the money, Nami."

"What?" She snapped, glaring at him. "Why the hell not?!"

Luffy raised his hands in a placating fashion, a motion that was even funnier since he was holding Buggy's head in his right hand. "That tent likely held what Buggy and his pirates looted from this town. Not only that, but Buggy destroyed almost half of the town. Do you really want to leave the elderly, men, women and children without a manner in which they could rebuild and get themselves back up to where they were before Buggy got here?"

Nami lost her angry expression as Luffy explained and she sighed in defeat when he finished. "I guess you are right. I couldn't possibly do that. I'm not the type of scum to knowingly make others suffer," she said with a surprising amount of venom, something that Luffy saved away for later. "I'll leave them the things Buggy took from them and three bags worth of money. That should give them enough to at least rebuild what was destroyed and I am still left with around two million. That's better than nothing, I guess," she went back to sulking.

Luffy laughed and patted her head tenderly, an action that for some reason made her happy and had her blushing like a ripe tomato. "That's nice of you, Nami. Besides, it's not like you have to keep looking for money. Since you are part of the of crew, and the money that I collect is for the crew, you can take whatever you need."

Nami paused and stared blankly at Luffy. "What?"

Luffy returned the look with a tilt of his head and a clueless expression on his face. "Eh? Didn't I tell you that? I swore I did. But, yes, you can- huff!" He blinked and looked down to see Nami with her arms wrapped around his midsection and her face buried into his vest as her shoulders shook slightly. "Nami?"

The orange haired girl for her part couldn't believe what she just heard. She knew that Luffy was being one hundred percent honest with her at that moment. It only took her nine days to figure a fundamental aspect of Luffy that should someone know about it they would take advantage of it. Luffy didn't lie. Sure, he could withhold information and he could let you think whatever you wanted to think by not correcting you, but whenever he said something it was because he at the very least believed that whatever he said was the truth. So, Nami knew that when Luffy was offering the money that was his, she knew that he meant it one hundred percent.

That meant that she had more than enough to finally buy her village back from Arlong. And that made her happy beyond belief. It was because of that reason that Nami allowed some tears to leak from the corner of her eyes as she looked up at Luffy with the warmest and truest smile she had given him yet. "Thank you, Luffy," she said simply before she buried her head back into his chest.

Luffy blinked, smiled softly and hugged her back without saying a word. He didn't know what had prompted Nami's sudden emotional response, but he was glad that he had made her happy, as unintentional as it was. Still, he wondered why the knowledge of her finally realizing that she had reached her goal prompted such a response. No matter if it was her goal, it was only money after all. Unless, of course, there was something more to it. And Luffy was willing to bet his straw hat that it was. Perhaps, he could gain more of Nami's trust so she would tell him and they could grow closer.

Zoro stood to the side with his arms crossed and his eyes closed as he leaned against a wall, seemingly not paying attention. But if you looked closely, you could see a small smile on his face.

After Nami finally got control of herself, the three of them made their way back to town square in which they had left Chouchou looking after the unconscious forms of Boodle and Richie, with Nami refusing to look at Luffy in the eye while blushing, much to Zoro's amusement.

They arrived only a few seconds before Boodle regained consciousness and needless to say the man was overjoyed when he saw Luffy holding Buggy's head, not even asking how it was still obviously alive. Then when they told him that they recuperated what Buggy had stolen and that they were going to leave them with some of Buggy's treasure so they could rebuild what the clown pirate had destroyed the man had begun to weep in happiness.

So, it was not a surprise to anyone that the entire town had come to see them off during the later bits of the afternoon after Boodle had gone to tell them what had happened. Since Luffy and co had arrived late in the morning and they had taken care of Buggy in less than an hour the entire town had thrown a party in celebration and Luffy, Nami and Zoro had joined earnestly.

Zoro had somehow managed to get himself drunk in less than thirty minutes, Luffy had bested men taller and wider than him in eating contests and Nami had danced happily with the town's people, feeling the joy of having one of the many weights she had upon her shoulders lifting with Luffy's declaration. She was seriously considering now going in this voyage with him after she went back home and bought it from Arlong, so she could accomplish her true dream of mapping the entire world. But that was something that needed further thought than a spur of the moment desire.

The party ended relatively quickly since the townspeople wanted to go back to their homes and those that had theirs destroyed wanted to start rebuilding right away. Luffy and Zoro had no issues with that and neither did Zoro, who was passed out drunk and had to be carried by Luffy. Thankfully he had already taken Richie to their ship otherwise it would've been tricky to figure out how to carry them both without Zoro ending with his head pressing against a part of Richie's body that he absolutely didn't want his head to be pressed against.

After Luffy deposited Zoro in one of the crewmates rooms, he went and pulled down the sails and raised their flag before he went and joined Nami in front of the helm as she held a compass and a map.

"So, where to now… Captain?" Nami asked, using the word tentatively. It was surprising how right the word felt on her lips when she directed it a Luffy and the wide grin he gave her made her respond with a similar one of her own.

"We need to go to the nearest marine base, so I can turn Buggy's head in. After that I'd like to see where we can find somewhere to make modifications to this ship, so she can tackle the Grand Line until we reach Water 7, where we should be able to get a proper ship built. But we must also find ourselves a cook, a doctor/surgeon, a carpenter and a musician before we head to the Grand Line," mused Luffy thoughtfully as he rubbed his jaw.

Nami raised an eyebrow at him. "I understand the first three, but why is a musician a must before heading to the Grand Line?"

"No voyage is complete without good music," said Luffy sagely, almost looking as if he was quoting someone else. He actually was. Want to guess who?

Nami shook her head before taking a look at her map. "I don't know where you would be getting more members for the crew but there is a marine base in the Gecko Islands. It should only take us around two weeks to get there if the winds are kind and nothing unexpected happens," said Nami after a moment of observing her map, made by herself, of East Blue and recalling the localizations of note that she had memorized in case she needed to usurp them of their money.

"Then you know what to do. I'll go get Nina settled so we can be on our way," said Luffy before he walked away to do just that leaving Nami shaking her head as she wondered when exactly had she gotten to the point that to her the thought of a Sea King towing their ship was normal.

A few moments later the course was set and Nami went to the captain quarters so she vould count the money she had gotten from the ordeal with Buggy in order to tell exactly how much Luffy needed to give her. Thinking of it made her feel all warm inside and the smile on her face would only disappear when she found out the next day that since she was getting better, the intensity (and insanity) of the training needed to be increased.

Luffy, meanwhile, was sitting on the deck looking up at Richie who had finally woken up. He noticed the change right away. While before Richie looked like a savage animal that was only holding back due to the order of its master, the Menean Lion now held itself with an obvious and natural regality to it that one could only be born with it. It was looking down at Luffy with eyes that were even more intelligent than before and there was a deep sense of gratitude in them.

Luffy inclined his head at the great beast that demanded respect with its mere presence. "I take it that you were obeying that Mohji guy against your will, right?" He asked the unnecessary question for the sake of clarification. When Richie nodded at him Luffy continued speaking. "Then I'm sorry for taking you with me on this ship without asking you if you wanted to. I'm afraid that the Town's people already saw you as a part of Buggy's crew and they wouldn't have been exactly overjoyed by your presence. If it is your desire, I'll leave you in the next island that has an ecosystem in which you can comfortably live in."

Richie shook its head and it raised its left paw before he could put it on Luffy's right shoulder while bowing his great head to him after giving him an earnest expression. Luffy grinned as he got the message. "You want to travel with us?" The Menean Lion nodded its head. "That's great! Welcome to the crew, erm, I suppose Richie isn't your real name, is it?"

The Menean Lion got shook its head rapidly with a disgusted look on its face before it stood up and walked towards the railing and raised its paw to point at the setting sun before he looked up and pointed at the sails that were being pushed by the wind.

It took a moment but Luffy got what he was trying to say. "Sunset Wind? That's your name?" The Menean Lion gave him a pleased nod and Luffy gave an impressed whistle and a grin as he regarded the magnificent beast. "That's a pretty badass name. Though it's a bit of a mouthful if I have to say that every time I have to call you by your name. Hm," said Luffy for a few moments before he perked up. "Would you mind if I called you Sunny? That's close enough to your actual name and it isn't demeaning at all."

His response was a nod and the equivalent of a shrug. Luffy grinned and extended his hand towards the newly dubbed Sunny. "Then welcome to the crew, Sunny! It's an honor to have someone such as you as a member of our crew!" Declared Luffy with a delighted laugh. Sunny gave an approving and quite happy sounding growl as he extended his right foreleg towards Luffy and exchanged a handshake, identical grins on their faces.

 **.o0O0o.**

"Oi, Luffy…" started to say Zoro gruffly before pausing as a disturbed expression appeared on his face. "Why is that beast of a lion doing what looks like leg strengthening exercises with weights strapped to its back?"

"It, is actually a he and he's got a name, you know? It's Sunset Wind, but you can call him Sunny if you want. He's cool with it," replied Luffy right away as he continued to look at Sunny, who was doing precisely what Zoro said the great lion was doing, with a critical eye. "And I'm obviously going to try to teach him the Rokushiki, of course. That's the reason why he is training just like you and Nami are. Don't ask silly questions, Zoro."

"I ain't asking no goddamned silly questions you moron!" Shouted Zoro angrily with a comical angry face with narrowed white eyes and sharp like teeth. "Why are you trying to teach… Sunny… the Rokushiki? And is it even possible for an animal to learn it?"

"I'm going to answer your first question with one of my own: Can you imagine the faces the flunkies of the World Government and the Marines are going to make when a lion of a species that can only be found in East Blue starts kicking their asses using their own techniques? Shishishishi!" Luffy chuckled and nodded in approval after he saw what he was looking for and he turned towards the now gaping Zoro with a grin. "As for your second question I thought I told you that _anyone_ with the correct type of training, time and mindset can learn them. And Sunny definitely has all of that in spades, don't you boy?"

Sunny roared in agreement as he continued to use his front and back legs to push his body up and down, a mildly strained expression on his face as he seemingly struggled against the weight that was strapped to his back using rope.

"Give it… a rest… Zoro. Honestly… you should be… used to things… like that… already," said Nami through pant as she did her own set of sit ups while wearing the weighs around her midsection, legs and arms that she had been using ever since Luffy started training her. She was still trying to wrap her head around the mechanism that allowed them to increase their weight after analyzing the current physical strength of the one that was wearing them. "Won't Nina… get jealous… though?"

Luffy frowned at her in confusion. "Why would she get jealous?"

"You got… another pet… didn't you?"

Luffy raised his eyebrows alarmingly at her. "Nina and Sunny ain't pets, Nami! They are members of the crew just like you, Zoro and I are! Just because they are of a different species all together doesn't mean they are pets! Nina has an actual job to do, which is to make yours way easier and Sunny is going to become a force to be reckoned with whom will fight at your side in the near future!"

"Ah… I get it… sorry Sunny… I'll… apologize to Nina… after I'm done… here," she said before she went back to focusing solely on what she was currently doing. Luffy, looking very pleased with himself after that, turned back towards Sunny in order to correct him on what he was doing wrong and walk him through the training routine Luffy wanted him to develop so he could learn the Rokushiki as fast as he was able.

Zoro could only shake his head in disbelief. "Am I the only sane person on this ship?" He muttered. _'For some reason, that's fucking depressing…'_

 **.o0O0o.**

A few days after Luffy and his crew left Orange Town, a dhoni approached the town from the direction of the docks that Buggy had used to set his base. The only occupant of the small sailboat was an extremely beautiful woman that was grasping the tiller as she smiled serenely at the upcoming island with hopeful dark green eyes. She was wearing a white cowboy hat, a bikini top that strained against her big, perky breasts and pink capri pants that showed off her slim, toned and well-endowed figure. Over all of that she wearing a pink cloak like cape with pink hearts.

"Ah, I hope my dear Luffy-sama came through here after he left me on Shells Town as a test to see if I could be competent enough to free myself and find him to show that I am worthy of him," said the quite changed Alvida lovingly as she caressed her new spiked iron mace that rested at her side on the boat. She had acquired it at Shells Town before she escaped using a dhoni that was idly resting at the docks that for some reason had been stockpiled with enough food to last for a few days.

Seeing such a thing had led her to convince herself even more of her own delusions about the reason behind Luffy leaving her within a cell in Shells Town Marine base. She thought that the boat had been Luffy's reward for successfully escaping and his encouragement for her to find him. If she knew the whole story on how the dhoni was there, if you squinted until your eyes were slits, you could say that Luffy was kind of indirectly responsible for Alvida acquiring the boat.

After she left Shells Town, she had found herself on a medium sized island that wasn't recorded in the official maps of East Blue. There she found and ate a Devil Fruit that made her immune to physical attacks by making them slip off her body. Not only that but eating the fruit had made her even more beautiful by making the freckles that were in her face disappear and enhancing her previous looks to levels she could only had dreamt off before.

"I have been learning how to use my new powers and increasing my abilities just for you Luffy-sama! I'll show you that I am worthy of you when the time comes for us to meet again!" She declared with a happy and beautiful grin as she suddenly stood up as she reached the docks, her breasts bouncing with the motion, making the workers that were repairing the damages from Buggy's stay stop and stare with heart in their eyes, blushing faces and drool leaking from the corners of their mouths.

Alvida's smile widened as she saw this. With her newfound enhanced beauty, it had gotten easier to get men, and some women, to tell her what she wanted to know. She was sure that getting information on Luffy would be easy enough and in no time at all she would be on his trail.

After all, it was now obvious that her dear Luffy-sama had come through here. She had heard about Buggy the Clown setting shop here in Orange Town and a distinct lack of pirate presence here meant that he had been defeated and driven off at the very least and/or capture/killed for his bounty, which was the more likely. And Alvida knew that there were only two men within East Blue strong enough to defeat Buggy.

One of them was that awful fishman Arlong that has been ruling the Conomi Islands, who she knew would never leave the comfort and security of his 'throne' in order to fight someone like Buggy, which discarded the possibility of it being him. The second one was, of course, her dear Luffy-sama, whom she knew to be heading on this direction and from her previous encounter with him and getting a read on him she knew that he had more than enough reasons to take on Buggy.

Getting off the boat, Alvida's happy and friendly smile widened as the workers approached her almost as if they were puppies looking up at their human owner. She was sure she was on the right path and it was only a matter of time before she was reunited with her dear Luffy-sama.

 **.o0O0o.**

"Ah… it's such a beautiful day…" muttered a young man with a slim physique, tanned skin, with medium-length black woolly hair, prominent lips and a long nose. He was wearing an olive-green plaid bandanna, a blue and white striped armband on his left arm, brown overalls with a white sash and no shirt underneath. He was also carrying with him a yellow satchel. He had his arms crossed and was looking at the ocean from a cliff with a content expression on his face. "There's nothing like starting such a happy day by looking at the sea!"

The young man was about to begin his daily routine of falsely alerting the town of there being a pirate attack, so they knew that it was time for them to get on with their days when his sharp eyesight caught something appearing over the horizon. His eyes widened when he saw that it was a ship and it was coming straight towards them. The reason of his surprise was because it was rare when a ship arrived at their island through this side. The last time he saw a ship that big was when his father sailed away actually.

Frowning a bit at the painful memories, the young man focused a bit more on the ship to see what details of it he could make out from here which were way more than what the regular person could thanks to his well-developed eyesight. He gave a sigh of relief when he saw the blank sails and flag of the ship. That meant that they weren't pirates. After narrowing his eyes and focusing when the ship was about two miles away, he managed to make out four figures standing against the railing of the forecastle deck, one of them significantly taller and furrier than the other.

"What in the hell…" he muttered as he continued on watching, only to gape in shock when all of the sudden a brown, gigantic Sea King rose from the water right to next ship until its head was half the height of the main mast. Then it ducked its head towards the figures only for him to fall on his ass in shock when he managed to make out one of the figures actually rubbing its head before it jumped towards the Sea King and untied the ropes that it had wrapped around its body close to where the head started.

Then they anchored the ship after they got a mile closer to the coast and the four figures, now distinct enough to realize that one of them was an orange haired woman, another one was a man wearing a straw hat, another was a man with green hair and three swords strapped to the haramaki on his waist and the furrier, bigger one was a freaking menean lion, got into the boat that was attached to the ship's side and lowered it so they could approach the beach.

Usopp could only gape in shock for a few moments before he recovered and he began to make his way towards the town so he could take the path down towards the beach. So excited he was to get a closer look at this group of people that he completely forgot to yell about pirates coming. This would result in many people being late to their work.

 **.o0O0o.**

The previous fourteen days for Luffy and co had been pretty much a repeat of the nine days they spent on the sea when they went from Shells Town to Orange Town, with the only true major difference being Sunny's presence.

The menean lion quickly became friends with everyone, even Nina, proving Luffy's words about them not being pets but rather crewmembers, and he showed aspects of his personality freely. He was regal when serious and diligent when he had something to accomplish, like training for example, but when he was relaxing, he acted like a house cat, falling asleep in the most random places and purring whenever some scratched him on 'the spots' which were behind his ears, underneath his chin and anywhere on his belly.

Surprising Zoro, not facing Nami and pleasing Luffy, Sunny had taken to the training extremely well and his strength had increased noticeably even if he was still weeks away from being able to start learning the Rokushiki, but Luffy had no doubts that he would be able to use them with a few quick exceptions: Kami-e and Shigan, the former more so than the latter. Kami-e had been developed with the potential the _human_ body had to be flexible and bend in manners that didn't look possible. As intelligent as he was, Sunny wasn't a human so there was not learning that for him. And the matter with Shigan was that Sunny lacked the ability to make his claw point straight frontwards, so he was going to have to develop a manner in which he could use the technique… or somehow adapt it to what he could do. He was not going to have issues learning Soru, Geppo, Tekkai and Rankyaku eventually.

Nami's overall physical abilities had increased noticeably once again from where she was at fourteen days ago, even putting to shame her growth in comparison after the first eleven days of training. This was because Nami had gotten used somewhat to the intensity of the exercises and without knowing she was able to push herself even further, which resulted in better results. Like Sunny, however, she was still weeks away from being able to use the Rokushiki but that didn't mean that she wasn't pleased with where she was at the moment.

According to Luffy, with whom she was lightly sparring every day as well, as she was now, she would've been able to deal with Cabaji with not too much difficulty. Not only that, but Nami had also started to notice the changes in her body. She was thankfully not bulking up, but she was definitely getting more defined and perky and that pleased her even more than her current fighting ability.

The one that took the cake, however, was Zoro. The green haired swordsman was an absolute monster and his growth rate was ridiculous. He had been already really near to being on the level needed to start learning the easiest techniques of the Rokushiki when Luffy met him, but the fact that after only twenty-three days of training he was already showing the signs of being able to use Soru astounded even Luffy. He estimated that in about two months' time Zoro would have at least a rudimentary grasp of all Rokushiki techniques and even then Luffy felt that he wasn't giving his First Mate enough credit.

Luffy also noticed that every two days he had to up the rhythm of their spars. It astounded him when he realized that Zoro would soon enough be able to keep up with him going all out using the Rokushiki and, if he could learn it eventually, and Luffy was inclined to say that Zoro could, Haki. The only advantage Luffy would ever have over Zoro would be his devil fruit powers and that was only because of their nature and it wasn't even going to be by that much if Zoro learned Busoshoku Haki.

That was many months into the future, however, and Luffy and co had to first get themselves prepared to enter the Grand Line. They needed to acquire more money, expand their crew and modify their ship. Luffy didn't know where they were going to achieve the last two, but at least he was going to cash in Buggy's bounty and get fifteen million more beries for the crew here in the marine base that was located in the Gecko Islands.

Luffy patted the bag tied to his sash inside of which was Buggy's comatose head.

"The marine base is in Pancake Town. This beach is part of Syrup Village, which is located only a few hours away on foot south of Pancake Town. So, you should be able to get your business there done by afternoon, which would mean that we could leave today. That's starting to become a trend, spend less than a day in every island we visit," commented Nami as she watched Luffy, Zoro and Sunny drag the boat towards the sand.

After that was done Zoro turned towards her and shrugged. "Eh, I don't really care one way or another about that. As long as I get to get drunk every day and a good fight every now and then, I'm alright with following you two around," said Zoro uncaringly before he pointed towards a log that wasn't too far away of them and clearly had someone poorly hiding behind it. "What the hell is up with that guy over there though?"

Luffy, Nami and Sunny turned to where Zoro was pointing with curious eyes and they indeed saw someone looking at them with wide eyes before he surprised them when he jumped out of his hidden spot and stood with his arms crossed over his chest and an intense look on his eyes. His legs were shaking though.

"I am the great pirate flee leader Usopp! I am in charge of the security of this village! You may call me 'Captain Usopp'! My eighty million men and I will show no mercy if you prove to be a threat to this village!" He declared.

Nami looked at him flatly. "Can't you tell a more convincing lie?" She deadpanned at him.

Usopp grabbed his head and a comically shocked expression appeared on his face. "Gah! I've been found out!"

"He doesn't even deny it," muttered Zoro with an amused chuckle.

"Gah! Did I just say that?! Bad planning! Bad planning indeed!" He shouted again, this time even more dramatically.

Luffy laughed at him while Sunny seemingly could only sweat drop. "You are funny!" Said Luffy before he looked at Usopp closely. "You know, I know this is the first time I've seen you in my life but I can't help but think you look familiar," muttered Luffy, racking his brain thinking about it only to perk up after a moment when realized how similar was Usopp's name to a man that belonged to Shanks' crew. "You are Yassop's son, aren't you?"

Usopp, who had been staring it awe at Sunny after he got over them discovering his lie so easily and him unintentionally confirming to them that he was lying, turned towards him so fast that it almost looked like he broke his neck. "You know my dad?"

"Shishishishishi! You could say that. He was part of the crew of the man that inspired me to become a pirate myself. I remember that when he was drunk, he couldn't stop blabbering about how proud he was of his son and how much he loved his wife. He also thought me how to properly use a flintlock, but I'm afraid I'll never be as good as him. That man could hit a bullseye while drunk, eyes closed, hundreds of meters away, turned away from the target and holding the gun over his shoulder!"

Zoro and Nami gave him wide eyed looks after he revealed that. Sunny only looked on bored, likely because since he was a lion, he didn't grasp the ridiculousness of the feat Luffy described.

Usopp too was looking at him wide eyes, so surprised that he even ignored the fact that Luffy just told him that he was a pirate, which more than likely meant that his two companions were also pirates. Instead, he focused on a more pressing manner to him. "You met my father?! When did you meet him?!"

Luffy shrugged his shoulders. "About ten years ago, give it or take it a few months."

' _That means that it happened around the time he left Mom and me. At least now I know that he had not been in East Blue since then…'_ thought Usopp with some relief as he didn't know how he would've reacted if his father had been in East Blue all this time and had not come to visit him. Though Usopp didn't know how he would've taken the news of his mother's death, he was sure that having his father there with him through those tough times would've made things more bearable for him. Usopp shook his head and gave Luffy a small smile. "I see. Thanks for telling me."

Luffy grinned and waved hi apologies off uncaringly. "No problem."

It was then when Usopp remembered the other important thing Luffy said and he pointed at them while backing away a few steps in shock. "You are pirates?!"

"And is it now when he reacts to that?" Muttered Zoro with some amused disbelief.

"These three are pirates. I'm just their navigator," denied Nami with a shake of her head. She might like Luffy, having realized that he was a good person despite claiming that his desire was to become the king of all pirates, and Zoro too to some extent and she had fully wrapped her head around the fact that Sunny was also a crewmember, but that she was still far ways from wanting to be catalogued with that title. She couldn't help the happy flutter in her stomach and the pink that colored her cheeks when Luffy beamed at her so earnestly after admitting that she was their navigator, though.

Seeing how nervous Usopp was, Luffy was quick to reassure him. "Don't worry, Usopp. You have my word that we are not here to cause trouble. Our purpose in coming here is to cash in a bounty in the marine base in Pancake Town and maybe get someone to modify our ship so it can take on the… difficult waters… of the Grand Line. We are also looking for new people to join our crew before we go there."

"The Grand Line?" Usopp asked, sounding impressed after he calmed down when he saw the sincerity in Luffy's eyes. He grinned. "That sounds like an adventure! You say you are looking for members? Well, I'll be wiling to join if you make me the captain."

Luffy blinked.

"Not gonna happen," was Zoro's immediate response.

"Impossible," said Nami.

Luffy laughed. "You are funny! I like you already!"

Usopp had a depressed air around him as he saw these reactions. "Can you guys at least do as if you were considering the offer? My high self-esteem can only take so many blows," he muttered before seemingly perking up as if nothing happened. "Anyways! You guys said you were also looking to make modifications to your ship, right? I know a guy that makes designs for luxury ships and oversees their construction, so he might be able to help you."

Luffy beamed at him. "Really?! Thanks a lot, Usopp!"

Nami frowned and peered at Usopp intently. "Can you give us an estimate on how much is gonna cost?"

Usopp shrugged his shoulders. "I can't be sure. You'll have to talk with him. C'mon. Follow me. I'll take you there. After that you might thank me by allowing me to be the captain of the crew if I decide to accept your offer to join, of course!"

Zoro deadpanned at him. "You were not invited."

Usopp grasped at his heart as if he had been struck in the heart by a poisoned arrow. "Gah! So cold and direct! Be more tactful!"

Nami groaned, Zoro snorted and Luffy laughed as Usopp began to lead them toward the town. Sunny followed them with a regal air about him as he peered curiously at his surroundings.

"So…" Usopp began to say after a few moments, a bit hesitant. "I can see you have a menean lion with you… and correct me if I wrong… but was that a Sea King that you petted and sent away after you anchored your ship?"

Luffy grinned. So, this guy's eyesight was good enough to make out that many details from what had to be at least a distance of two miles? Interesting.

 **.o0O0o.**

Usopp led Luffy, Nami, Zoro and Sunny through the village, the group easily gathering the attention of the villagers what with an excited Usopp intently listening to Luffy as he regaled him with the stories of how Nina, and had Usopp reacted ridiculously when he found out that the Sea King was a female and named as such, and Sunny joined the crew, someone that could only be 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro following behind with a bored look on his face and an orange haired girl trying, and failing, to get a freaking menean lion to let her ride on his back.

Even though the scene freaked everyone out, no one moved to do anything as it was obvious that they weren't causing trouble and the menean lion was obviously trained and well behaved despite its constant refusals to the girl. There was also the fact that Roronoa Zoro's presence, a notorious bounty hunter whose targets were normally pirates hence his moniker, assured them that this group was not made of pirates. And finally, despite his lying and desire to be a pirate like his father, everyone in Syrup Village knew that Usopp was harmless and a coward, so if he was willing to directly interact with this group meant that despite them looking intimidating and tough, they were harmless.

Oh, if the only knew…

It took no time for the village to start ignoring them, so they could get back to their work. As a wise man someone said, ignorance is bliss.

Luffy and the crew followed Usopp towards the outskirts of the village following a path that led them to a small hill that overlooked the entire Syrup Village, the forest and the ocean because of its height. The most glaring aspect of the hill, however, was the enormous, walled mansion that rested on top of it. It looked out of place for many reasons, mainly its size and design in comparison with other buildings within the village and that wasn't even counting the fact that it was located atop the small hill.

Luffy gave it an appreciative look as he whistled. "That's a very nice house. Is the guy that's going to modify our ship the owner?" If that was the case then it could only mean that the guy was the real deal, as he was successful enough to get himself such a big house in a place like Syrup Village, where everyone else was more of the humble sort.

Usopp shook his head in the negative. "No. The guy that might be able to help you works for the actual owner as her butler. He does ship designs on the side as a hobby, but I promise he is the real deal," he assured them before he smiled softly as he looked towards the mansion. "The owner is a sickly but sweet girl named Kaya. Her parents died about three years ago of natural causes leaving her with everything he had, which includes the mansion, the land in which Syrup Village is built and a few businesses over in Pancake Town. Because of her sickens and status she's been very lonely, but I managed to become her friend and I occasionally sneak in to make her company."

Nami, who had given up on trying to convince Sunny to give her a ride, grinned as she heard this, and she fell into step next to Usopp as she nudged him teasingly. "Huh, who would've thought? The good for nothing liar turned out to be a decent guy with a crush on the princess of the island," she said, easily being able to tell that Usopp was telling the truth in that moment.

Usopp blushed and stammered for a few moments before he shook his head, missing Nami's giggling and Zoro's and Luffy's snickering, as he managed to get his wits back about him. His face was still somewhat red though. "Ahem! I would appreciate if next time you complimented me, there wasn't a bigger insult in your words," he told her, and she waved him off uncaringly he sighed. "I get no respect here. Anyways, I think if I vouch for you guys maybe I can get Kaya to get Merry to work on your ship at a reasonable price."

Nami frowned a bit. "And how much would you consider to be a 'reasonable' prize?" She asked, settling into her still unofficial role as the crew's treasurer. She had finally got around counting the amount they had on board and it amounted to about forty five million beries: the ten million Luffy already possessed when he began sailing, the five million she got from Alvida's treasure, plus Alvida's own bounty of five million, the six million she got from the marine base at Shells Town, the two million she acquired from the fiasco with Buggy and finally the fifteen million bounty that was on said clown's head that Luffy would be cashing up later plush the two million she had managed to scrap up on her own before meeting Luffy.

It had floored her completely that in less than a month ever since meeting and travelling with Luffy she had managed to 'acquire' almost half of what she needed in order to save her village even when she had only needed about twenty million when she last set out. If that wasn't the world itself telling her that going with Luffy was the best thing she could do, she didn't know what all of it meant. And an even bigger surprise to her was that she hadn't felt the temptation of stealing the money and the ship and sail back towards the Conomi Islands on her own.

She knew deep down that it wasn't because she wouldn't be able to do so what with Luffy, Nina, Zoro and Sunny (In that order) being able to easily stop her. She knew that there was no need for her to do such thing since Luffy had already promised her the money she needed to purchase Cocoyashi Village from Arlong so she could save them. She knew that as his navigator, she belonged to Luffy's crews, that she was one of his. She had seen enough of Luffy's character to know that his word was his bond when it came to those he considered friends.

She liked to think that it was the case between them, that they were at least friends. ' _Oh, and there's also the fact that I am impossibly attracted to him, and I can tell that he is as attracted to me as I am to him. I hope for more than friendship in the future. His glances are not that discreet, which isn't a surprise. That can wait a bit though,'_ she thought with a furious blush as her eyes trailed a few times in his direction, her stomach fluttering a bit as she saw him and Zoro snickering while pointing at a for-some-reason-annoyed Sunny. She got her head back in the game. She had to make sure they didn't get scammed and that there was enough money for her to buy her village back.

Usopp didn't notice this as he shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. "I wouldn't really know, since ship building and design isn't my thing. What I do know is that it's sure to cost a significant amount, since you have to take into account materials and work force, you know?"

Nami clicked her tongue in annoyance but nodded in understanding. She would have to wait to talk to Kaya's butler and haggle for prizes if that turned out to be the case.

"Oi!" Called out Zoro after the amusement at seeing Sunny being annoyed by a few bugs he couldn't drive away by snapping at them with his jaws died down. "I want to get back to training and drinking myself to a coma so let's get this over with!" He shouted with some annoyance as he rested his arm on top of his swords. Ever since he joined the crew and got introduced to Luffy's training methods, he had become an even bigger training freak. Not only that, but the seemingly endless alcohol supply tended to his secondary addiction. Being away from them for a few hours resulted in Zoro feeling a bit antsy after more than twenty days of non-stop indulging.

Gulping a bit at Zoro's annoyed glare, Usopp ignored Luffy's uncaring grin and Nami's eyeroll as he hastened his pace and covered the last few years of the trip and stopped in front of the gate and the men guarding it. After being at the end of Roronoa Zoro's annoyance, ignoring the glares from the two guardsmen was easy. "Good morning, fine gentlemen! This is Captain Usopp speaking! With a rather out of character act, I am here to cause no mischief but rather guiding these people who have business with Kaya-sama!" He declared in an over the top fashion after motioning towards Luffy and co with a ridiculous flourish.

The two guardsmen exchanged unsure glances as they gave Zoro, whom they recognized as a bloodthirsty and ruthless bounty hunter, and Sunny, whom looked to be the most dangerous of the four of them, wary looks.

Nami stepped forward and smiled at the men, smirking as her sensual appearance and beauty did its job in gathering the attention of the two men and distracting them. "What Usopp-kun meant to say is that we would like to see if Kaya-san's butler would be able to design and oversee a few modifications we would like to get for our ship. I promise we are not here to cause trouble," she said, smiling sweetly.

The guards exchanged another glance before the one of the left nodded slowly. "If that's the case, I don't think there would be an issue on letting them go inside, right?" He asked his counterpart that stood at the right, his eyes trailing back to Nami as he blushed and grinned like a loon.

"I suppose you are right," said the one of the right, also distracted by Nami's figure and sweetness. He still had more sense than his partner, so he was thinking about possible repercussions, like getting fired or being forbidden from going on that vacation that Klahadore had so kindly arranged for them and most of the mansion's staff. He still concluded that letting this group go in and establish business with Kaya-sama wouldn't result in that. There had to be a compromise though. "I'm afraid that your pet menean lion is going to have to wait outside though."

"Oi!" Luffy shouted as he wrapped an arm around an annoyed Sunny's neck as the two of them glared at the suddenly nervous guards. "Sunny ain't no pet! He is a full-fledged member of- ouch! Nami! What gives?!" Whined Luffy with a pout as he cradled his right foot which Nami had promptly stepped on. Even though he had felt the stomp, it hadn't really hurt but it had still surprised him.

With her sweet smile having gone strained at Luffy almost revealing that he was a pirate, which wouldn't have gone well for anyone involved, Nami ignored him and addressed the guards. "That won't be a problem, good sirs. Sunny is very well behaved so he shouldn't have any issues with waiting for us here, right?" The last part of her speech was directed towards Sunny, who still looked annoyed. The menean lion glanced at Nami, huffed and then snorted before he went to lay down next to a tree that was giving quite the nice shade.

Luffy pouted even harder.

Nami turned back towards the guards and cocked her head cutely. "See? No problem at all."

The guards could only look at the group strangely before shaking their heads and silently opening the doors for them. With a happy expression of gratitude, Nami almost skipped in and she was followed by a pouting Luffy who began to complain about her treating Sunny like a pet and making him stay behind, with Nami ignoring him completely, which only resulted in Luffy pouting even harder.

Usopp gaped in disbelief as he turned towards Zoro. "Is this the norm with you guys?"

Zoro nodded almost solemnly. "Depressingly enough, you have seen nothing yet," he said with a shake of his head before he clicked his tongue and turned away from the mansion and back towards the village. "Anyways, it's not like I am actually needed here. I'm sure Nami and Luffy can take care of business here. If they, for some asinine reason, need me, tell them that I am getting wasted on the local bar and that I will likely be passed out inside a dirty alley," said Zoro as he threw an uncaring wave as he walked away.

Usopp looked at him walking away with wide eyes and a gaping mouth before he shook his head in disbelief. "These guys are crazy," he said to himself before he ran towards Luffy and Nami who had been waiting for him. He looked at them with an unsure smile. He told them what Zoro said and their only reaction was Luffy chuckling and uncaringly waving it off as a non-issue while Nami clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes in annoyance. Neither of them acted like it was unexpected though.

The three of them began to walk towards the doors of the mansion only for one of the windows of the first floor to open almost abruptly as a pale-skinned and blonde-haired girl with light brown eyes peeked the top half of her body out. She had a smile on her face as she waved at them. "Usopp-kun!"

Usopp grinned when he saw her. "Kaya!" He waved back at her for a moment before he turned towards Luffy and Nami. "C'mon. Let me introduce you to her," he said before he began to make his way towards the still smiling girl. Luffy shrugged and followed while Nami pouted a bit at Usopp not allowing her to tease him about Kaya being really pretty. Oh well, she was sure there was going to be time for that later.

When Usopp reached Kaya, she looked down at him as she rested her forearms on the lower frames of her window as she gave him a fond smile. "You are here earlier today, and you didn't sneak around to get here for a chance. Is Captain Usopp, the brave warrior of the sea, changing his vile ways?" She teased him a bit with her words. She knew that the stories he told her were lies but she also knew why he did it and he didn't have the slightest clue how much it meant to her.

When her only other options for company where her two senior butlers, Klahadore and Merry, both of whom she loved very much but could be too much in their 'worrying', 'taking care of' and 'tending to their duties' regarding her, it was no wonder she appreciated Usopp so much.

Usopp blushed red at her teasing words and the look on her face. He began to stammer and make denying motions with his arms. "Erm, no! Of course not! I shall never change my ways! Mwahahah!" He laughed, somewhat nervously, at the end before pointing at Luffy and Nami, who had amused expressions on their faces as they stood to the side and watched the interaction. "I am not her to regal you with my adventures! These fine people have official business with you and I took it upon myself to take them here!" He declared proudly as he crossed his arms and adopted a satisfied expression.

Kaya giggled before shaking her head fondly at him. "Never change, Usopp-kun. Never change," she said, giggling again when he looked away bashfully as he rubbed the back of his head, before turning towards the black-haired teen wearing a straw hat and the orange haired girl with brown eyes darker than her own. She looked at them with curious eyes and a smile. "Hello. My name is Kaya. What kind of 'official business' these would be?"

"Ah, so polite!" Complimented Nami, both because she wanted to make a good impression and because it was a nice breath of fresh air after dealing with the likes of Zoro and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Luffy for so long. She stepped forward with a smile and motioned towards herself. "My name is Nami. Pleasure to meet you…"

"I am Monkey D. Luffy! The man that will become-!" Luffy began to say as he also approached but he was abruptly stopped when Nami stomped on his foot… again. "…Why?" He whined.

Nami ignored Luffy's childish pout and her smile was strained and nervous as she looked at the curious look Kaya sent towards Luffy. "Ignore him. He get's excited easily," she said uncaringly and getting the blond girl's attention. "Usopp here told us that a member of your staff, Merry I think he said his name was, is well versed in ship design and modification. We would like to talk to him about upgrading our ship and how much it would cost."

Kaya eyes gleamed in realization and her smile widened a bit. "Oh! If that's the case then you may come inside so you can speak with Merry! He manages his business on his own after all," she said, not having a problem with inviting them in to her house. Usopp vouched for their character and despite knowing he was a liar, she knew for a fact that he was a good person and a good judge of character.

"What are you doing here?!" A sudden voice declared and they turned to see a well-dressed person walking towards them at a fast pace. He was a tall and slim man with glasses and slicked black hair. He wore a black suit with two golden markings on it that resembled piled excrement over a white shirt with a curious collar, with spiral-like protrusions on the edges, and a black tie. He also sported striped shoes. He was glaring at all of them, except for Kaya, with an annoyed expression on his face. "You can't just come into the mansion uninvited like this!"

Kaya gave him a surprised look. "Klahadore!"

Luffy just looked at him with curiosity. "Who's he?"

Usopp clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked away. "Ugh! The butler!"

Kaya began to explain with a worried expression on her face. "Listen, Klahadore, these people didn't come uninvited. They actually-"

Kaya was rudely interrupted when the man, Klahadore, raised a hand towards her. "You don't have to explain! I will ask you about it later!" He said rudely before turning towards Luffy, Nami and Usopp. "Please, get-"

It was time now for Nami to interrupt him as she stepped up towards him and crossed her arms under her bust. "How dare you talk to your mistress like that, huh? Aren't you just her butler? And for your information, the guards at the door let us through when we told them that we have official business here!" She shouted at him with an annoyed expression on her face. _'The nerve of this guy!'_ She thought furiously while glaring at him.

Klahadore faltered at that and he now looked unsure of himself. One quick look towards a surprisingly reproachful Kaya told him that it was indeed the case. Hiding his embarrassment, Klahadore decided to focus on an easier target in order to pass the shame he was feeling towards someone else. He fixed his glasses with the palm of his hand as he looked towards Usopp with a gleam on his eyes.

Both Luffy and Nami took notice of the strange motion but chalked it up to it being a quirk of the man.

"You… you're Usopp-kun…" he trailed off as a smirk appeared on his face. "I've heard some rumors about you. The villagers talk about you all the time, you know?"

Usopp changed his previously nervous expression into a prideful one as he pointed at him self with his right thumb while his left fist was put against his waist. "Oh! Well, thank you, mister butler! You may call me Captain Usopp! Everyone calls me that."

Klahadore ignored his words as he once again pushed his glasses up with the palm of his right hand. "The guards at the gates were the ones that told me you had come here. They might have official business with Kaya-sama but what you might want escapes me."

Usopp faltered a bit as he looked at the butler with a perplexed expression on his face. "Didn't the guards tell you? I told them that I was escorting them here. And since Kaya is my friend, well, I also used the opportunity to visit her," admitted Usopp at the end with a light blush. When Kaya smiled brightly at him, he only looked away as his face got redder. Luffy and Nami gave him looks of amusement.

Klahadore also chuckled in amusement but his next words proved that it was for an entirely different reason. "I can see that you can certainly lie well!"

"What?!" Usopp turned sharply towards him. The others also gave him looks of surprise.

"I've heard about your father too…" he said as he pushed his glasses up with the palm of his hand and looked at Usopp with a condescending expression on his face. "You are the son of a filthy and good-for-nothing pirate! I'm not surprised that you turned out this way! Friends with Kaya-sama? Ha! Don't make me laugh! You better stay away from her!"

' _What a fucking asshole!'_ Thought Nami as she glared at him with her fists tightening and her knuckles slightly popping. She didn't know why, but there was something about this man that just pissed her off to the core.

"Klahadore! How can you say something like that?" Shouted Kaya with a scandalized and slightly angry expression on her face.

Usopp growled deep in the back of his throat as he gave a surprisingly intimidating glare towards Klahadore. He was slightly hunched over and his fists were tightening at his sides. "… did you just say filthy and good-for-nothing…?"

' _Hoho! These two got more spunk than what their appearances might suggest,'_ thought Luffy with some amusement before turning towards Klahadore and adopting a smirk on his face. "I'm afraid you are grossly misinformed, Kaladoor. Usopp's father is far from being a filthy and good-for-nothing pirate. He is the master gunner of the Red Hair Pirates, a core member of the crew of Akagami Shanks, one of the Yonko."

Everyone looked at Luffy with wide eyes and a slightly pale face in the case of Klahadore. Luffy had never elaborated whose crew Usopp's father was member of and he had never said the name of the man that had inspired him to become a pirate which was why Nami was also shocked by his words. Klahadore, however, was shaken by the fact that he had just insulted someone directly related to a Yonko…

Usopp was the first to recover and he puffed up in pride.

Klahadore got annoyed by the satisfied expression on Usopp's face and scoffed. "So, what? A filthy pirate is a still a filthy pirate! The son of one is no better! You and Kaya-sama belong to completely different worlds. I wonder why you 'befriended' her…" he trailed off before perking up as if figuring out his own ponderings. "Is it money that you are hoping for? Name your price to never bother Kaya-sama again."

"Klahadore!" Shouted Kaya at the top of her lungs as she glared at him, surprising everyone since they didn't expect such an outburst from someone like her. "That's enough! Apologize to Usopp-kun this instant!" She ordered while narrowing her eyes. She knew that the only thing Usopp wanted from her was to see her smiling and happy. That was why he told her those obviously outlandish stories. It angered her to hear Klahadore say such things about him.

Klahadore let go of his surprise and turned towards Kaya with an unrepentant expression on his face. "There's no need for me to apologize to this uncivilized person! I'm just telling the truth!" He declared before turning towards an increasingly angry Usopp. "I actually feel sorry for you. You must hate your father, right? Because he's just a dumb treasure hunter who deserted his family and village!"

Kaya's glare matched Nami's now. "Klahadore!"

Usopp's glare was positively murderous and the capillaries of his eyes were so marked that they looked almost bloodshot as he growled out his next words. "…Say another bad thing about my father… I fucking dare you…"

Klahadore smirked condescendingly as looked down on Usopp and pushed up his glasses once again with the palm of his hand. "Why are you so angry? You aren't very smart, are you? Why don't you spew your usual lies about him, huh? You could have said that your father was a travelling merchant… or even that you and him aren't blood related…"

Usopp screamed...

"Shut the fuck up!"

WHAM!

… and punched Klahadore right in the face.

Kaya's eyes widened and she gasped as her hand flew to cover her mouth in shock.

Nami smirked at the sight of the asshole butler getting what he had coming to him.

Luffy gave an appreciative whistle. _'That was a good punch even though his form was horrible. It's obvious he has never trained in that are before. More importantly though…'_ he trailed off as he grew serious and gave Klahadore a speculative look. _'He stopped himself from reacting to Usopp's punch. This guy is no ordinary butler.'_

"Gah! Ugh! See! You are violent! Like father, like son!" Shouted Klahadore as he quickly found his glasses and but them back on as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. The left side of his face was starting to bruise but he had a satisfied smirk on his face.

"I said shut the fuck up!" Shouted Usopp as he glared at the downed Klahadore. "I'm proud that my dad is one of the most infamous pirates! I'm proud that he is a brave warrior of the sea! You are right that I like to lie but I'm proud of having a pirate's blood in me! I don't have to pretend I'm not! I am the son of a pirate!" He screamed at the top of his lungs at the end.

Luffy could only grin as he looked at Usopp. _'This guy…'_

Still sitting on the ground and smirking, Klahadore pushed up his glasses with the palm of his hand. "You said pirates are 'brave warriors of the sea'? Hah! Don't make me laugh! Don't twist the truth! It's because you have that savage bloodline that you like to lie so much and use violence whenever you are enraged," he said as he stood up and dusted off his suit. "I believe you only try to get close to Kaya-sama because of her money…"

Usopp gritted his teeth in anger. "What the hell are you talking about! I only come here to tell Kaya stories so she can laugh and be happy for a short while! I have never asked anything of her!"

Klahadore seemingly finally lost his composure as he began to scream right back at Usopp. "Who care what your motive is?! The fact that your father is a pirate is more than enough reason for me to kick you out!"

Usopp got in Klahadore's face and grabbed him by his collar. "I fucking dare you to say that again!" He shouted with his arm cocked back and his fist ready to deliver another punch.

"Usopp-kun! Please stop! Don't harm Klahadore anymore!" Shouted Kaya with a worried and desperate expression on her face. When Usopp faltered and turned towards her with a frustrated expression on her face, Kaya covered her eyes in a bit of shame with her hand. "Klahadore isn't a bad person. He's just concerned about me. That's why he's a little extreme…"

"A little extreme?" Asked Nami incredulously as she turned towards Kaya. She pointed at the butler with a distasteful expression on her face. "That guy is just being an asshole. He even has to bring up what he obviously knows is a sore subject for Usopp in order to prove his point. Anyone would become violent if their family is insulted in such a way," said Nami with vehemence.

Kaya looked even more shamed now. "I'm so sorry…"

Klahadore slapped Usopp's loose hand away from his collar. "Get the hell out of here! Savages like you are not welcome here! I'll let you off this time, but I warn you… don't come here again!" He shouted at Usopp.

Usopp turned towards Kaya to see that she was just looking on in shame without saying anything. His face tightened in anger. "Fine. I understand. Even I know when I'm not wanted. I will never come back here again!" He declared before turning around and beginning to walk away towards the gates of the mansion, his gait hasty and his form slouched.

"Usopp-kun…" muttered Kaya with a concerned and pained expression on her face as she looked at his fading back.

"Hmph. Good riddance," said Klahadore before turning towards Luffy and Nami. He pushed up his glasses with the palm of his hand and inclined his head a bit. "I apologize for the unsightly scene. I hope that your business with Kaya-sama proves to be fruitful."

"… I'm half tempted to not conduct any business here," admitted Nami without hesitation as she switched from glaring at Klahadore with disgust and looking at Kaya with disappointed eyes. "Usopp didn't deserve that."

Klahadore didn't seem to care about her words.

Kaya flinched before giving Nami an alarmed look. "No! Please! I'm sorry! Merry's business is his own! Whatever deal you strike with him for working on your ship has nothing to do with me! Don't let this get in they of that! Please!" She pleaded while looking at Nami and Luffy pleadingly.

Klahadore straightened up. "Kaya-sama! These people don't deserve your begging-"

Kaya turned a furiously glare towards him. "Shut the hell up, Klahadore! You have caused enough trouble as it is! I won't let you ruing a possible business venture for Merry as well! And you and I will be having words later!"

Klahadore twitched but finally fell back in like as he nodded stiffly. "Of course, Kaya-sama. My apologies."

"Nami." Luffy spoke and when she turned towards him with an expression that told him she didn't want to conduct business here, he smiled placatingly at her. "I understand why you are so upset on Usopp's behalf. I am as well but we need our ship modified and who knows where we can find someone else that can do it. Let's just get this over with. We'll leave these people in peace after our business with them is done, okay?"

Nami clicked her tongue but nodded her head with some reluctance. "Alright," she agreed before turning towards a relieved Kaya and pointing angrily towards the butler. "I don't want to see this asshole's mug while I am here! That's my only demand."

Said asshole's jaw visibly tightened.

Kaya nodded immediately. "Of course." Truthfully, Nami wasn't the only one that didn't want to look at Klahadore…

"Excellent," said Luffy before turning around and starting to walk towards the gates of the mansion while waving lazily over his head. "I'll go and take over the business at Pancake Town. It shouldn't take too long. Let's meet at whatever bar Zoro is drinking dry of their alcohol, okay? Oh! And don't forget that Sunny is waiting outside!"

"Sure!" Nami shouted back at him before turning expectantly towards Kaya with a raised eyebrow. "So… what are we waiting for? I want to get this done as soon as possible after all."

Kaya had no illusions about whether she deserved or not Nami's sudden aggressive and impatient disposition. She felt horrible for not defending Usopp a few minutes ago. She had been overwhelmed by his sudden use of violence against Klahadore, something that she had not expected from whom she had thought as a harmless and well-meaning boy that liked to be n her company despite knowing that she wasn't all that interesting.

That day Kaya learned that there was more to Usopp than his well-intended lies.

 **.o0O0o.**

Pancake Town was a few hours away from Syrup Village but that was at the pace of a normal person and Monkey D. Luffy couldn't be classified as such. With quite a liberal use of Soru, it took Luffy less than fifteen minutes to reach his destination. Pancake Town reminded Luffy a bit of Shells Town with the only difference being that the buildings weren't as tall and were a bit more separated from one another. The Marine Base also wasn't a prominent feature of the town even if it was the biggest and tallest building there.

"What is your business here?" The marine guard at the front gates of the base asked with a suspicious tone as he regarded Luffy.

The black-haired teen merely grinned before pulling out Buggy's head from its bag. The marine guard blanched and turned sickly shade of grin when he saw the somehow still alive head of Buggy the Clown staring at him with blank eyes and his tongue hanging out of his mouth. "I came here to cash in Buggy's bounty. I know it says dead or alive but do you guys accept kind of in between?" He asked sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.

The marine guard looked at him without blinking for almost a full minute before nodding his head slowly. "Erm, yeah. Just… follow me, sir," he said before quickly turning around, opening the gates and starting to walk hastily towards the main building that made up the base.

With an amused expression on his face, Luffy put Buggy's head back into the bag and followed after the clearly disgusted and scared marine.

As he was led towards the treasury, Luffy managed to catch quite the interesting conversation between two marines that were idling around.

"Hey, did you hear? Captain Morgan and his bastard son Helmeppo were killed about three weeks ago!"

The other marine had wide eyes as he looked at the first one. "Truly?! By whom? Morgan was a corrupt and evil asshole yes but the man was quite strong and he could cut through a lot of things with that axe of his."

The first one shook his head. "No one knows. The marines at the 153rd Branch claimed that the assailant was cloaked from head to toe. After claiming that he was here to free Shells Town from Captain Morgan's 'reign of terror' and to recruit Roronoa Zoro, he put a bullet right in Captain Morgan's forehead. Roronoa Zoro killed Helmeppo after he was freed. The people of Shells Town also claimed to know nothing."

"Damn. It's not like I will be losing any sleep over the two of them dying but still… damn."

The first one nodded in agreement as he kept his grim expression. "And that's not all. The Shells Town marine base was robbed almost dry. And the same day Captain Morgan was killed, 'Iron Mace' Alvida had been turned in for her bounty. And guess what? That very night she broke out of her cell, knocked out everyone there that was awake and escaped Shells Town using a boat."

The other marine's eyes were wide. "Holy shit! Do you think everything was related?"

The first marine nodded. "It's a very distinct possibility. Too many coincidences adding up for it to be otherwise. If it weren't for the fact that most of the marines there had been injured, their involvement in the incidents might have be suspected but they were clearly victims of a bizarre set of events. No one really knows what happened."

As he walked away from them, Luffy hid a smirk. _'I'm not surprised those guys kept their word. They looked the sort. It also seems like Coby didn't tell them about us being the ones that robbed them of their money. And if Alvida escaped, well, that's not my problem. I already cashed in her bounty. Whatever she does from now on is not my problem,'_ he thought as he followed the marine into the treasury.

Other than a disgusted reaction at the sight of Buggy's head and being regarded suspiciously because of his get up, Luffy made the transaction without issues. He did have to explain how was it possible for Buggy's head to be alive and when they heard what he had done, Luffy had been unable to contain his laughter at their nervous and scared expressions. As he was leaving with the suitcase full of money, Luffy made sure to give every marine a mock salute with it just for laughs.

None of them had been amused which just resulted in it being even funnier to Luffy.

On his way back to Syrup Village Luffy once again used Soru to make the trek in less than fifteen minutes. Deciding that he didn't want to walk around carrying fifteen million beri, he decided to take the money to their ship. He made his way towards the cliffs that were on the side of the island their ship had been anchored. He was about to use his lightning powers to 'fly' towards the ship but he blinked when he saw Usopp sitting there cross-legged, hands resting on his knees and an air of solemnness surrounding him as he stared at the sea with a blank expression on his face.

A quick application of Soru had him silently standing behind him. "Yo."

"GAH!" Screamed Usopp as he jumped and turned around with a scared expression on his face.

"Shishishishi!" Chuckled Luffy before pointing at Usopp with a grin on his face. "You're sure scared easily!"

"Anyone would be scared if you spoke behind them without making a sound previously!" Screamed Usopp at him and Luffy's only reaction was to laugh. Usopp deflated after a moment and gave Luffy a curious look. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to take the money I got from Buggy the Clown's bounty to my ship when I saw you sitting here," explained Luffy easily as he shook a bit the briefcase he was holding in his hand and then sat down next to the curly-haired liar.

"Ah. I see…" he began to say in understanding before trailing off as his eyes widened in disbelief. "Did you just say Buggy the Clown?! The guy that has a fifteen million bounty on his head?!"

Luffy chuckled at Usopp's over the top expression. "Yeah. It wasn't really that hard to beat him. His devil fruit powers allowed him to separate his body parts at will so he only was immune to slashing attacks. I just had to use my flintlock and a few well-placed punches to defeat him."

Usopp's eyes widened even more at his words. "Devil fruits?! Those are real?!"

Luffy smirked as he nodded. "Yeah. They are very much real. In the Grand Line, where I'm planning to go after I get my ship modified and get a few key members for my crew, they are pretty common all things considered."

Usopp continued to stare at Luffy with wide eyes. "You are really planning to find One Piece and become the King of the Pirates, aren't you?"

Luffy nodded his head resolutely. "Of course, I am. That's my dream and I have already decided to dedicate my life to accomplish it," he said with so much conviction that Usopp almost physically felt it. Luffy raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't you have your own dream you want to accomplish?"

Usopp lost his wide-eyed expression before turning to look towards the ocean. "… I want to become the bravest warrior of the sea…" he said before trailing off as his expression twisted somehow into a mix of melancholy and anger. "… and find my dad so I can deck him across the face for living me and my mom here and never coming back in the past ten years."

Luffy laughed in amusement and delight at that.

Usopp gave him a half-hearted glare. "Don't make fun of me! My self-esteem can only take so much punishment in one day," he said before sighing as he looked away. "I know my dreams are impossible for me to reach. I don't even know where I should start looking for my dad and the only thing I can do better than being a liar is being a coward," he admitted with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Luffy sobered up and he regarded Usopp seriously. "Seemingly impossible dreams are the best dreams to have, you know?" When Usopp turned towards him with an unsure expression, Luffy smiled wryly. "I should know. Pirate King, remember? What's more impossible than that during the 'Great Era of Piracy'?"

Usopp just continued to stare at Luffy in silence.

"But I don't care how impossible it might seem. I don't long how long it takes or how far I have to push myself. I will become the Pirate King or die trying. And Nami and Zoro? They are the same. I still don't know why yet, but Nami wasn't afraid to put her life in danger to get what she wanted. And Zoro's dream is as crazy as mine: to become the world's greatest swordsman. Did you know that the guy that holds that tittle is as strong as Akagami Shanks?"

Usopp's eyes were wide now as he stared at Luffy.

The black-haired teen just grinned. "You think your dreams are impossible for you? That's perfect then. Now the only thing you gotta do is dig deep within yourself and find the resolve to push forward to accomplish your dreams no matter what. Become a pirate and sail the seas until you can punch your dad so hard that all his teeth fall off. Cowardice ain't the thing that' stopping you. That's all on you, Usopp!"

The curly-haired teen continued to stare at Luffy for a moment before he began to speak in a weird tone that was mostly a combination of pleading and excitement. "My eyesight is so good that I can make out things in detail as far as two miles away and my marksmanship is so good that I have never missed a target when using my slingshot."

Luffy raised an eyebrow and his mouth twisted in amusement. "A slingshot? You might want to consider getting something more… lethal."

"I'll get a gun then. It's all the same for me."

Luffy snorted as a grin slowly began to appear across his face. "Is that so? Then…" he trailed off as he stood up and reached for his flintlock. He twirled it around in a smooth motion until he was grabbing it by the barrel of the gun and presenting the grip towards Usopp. "Take this."

Usopp stood up as well and took the flintlock without a word. He used his white sash to secure it to his person.

Luffy regarded Usopp with a wide grin. "Are you willing to train until you are crying, sweating and bleeding and realize that when you reach that point is when you should really start pushing yourself?"

Usopp nodded without hesitation and a serious expression on his face. "Yes."

Luffy's grin couldn't get any wider as he extended his hand towards Usopp. "Welcome onboard then, Master Gunner."

Usopp's own grin was just as wide as he grasped Luffy's forearm and gave him a firm shake. "Thank you for the opportunity, Captain."

The two of them then began to laugh in merriment. Luffy because he found another member for his crew that had lots of potential and Usopp because he finally got a real chance on becoming what he always wanted to become and accomplish his dreams.

Usopp then sobered up as his happy expression turned into one of slight nervousness. "Oh, crap. How am I going to break the news to Kaya?"

Luffy also stopped laughing as he tilted his head to the side. "I thought you were going to stop being friends with her after what happened earlier."

Usopp shook his head. "I would never do that to her. She only has Merry and that bastard butler keeping her company most of the time. I would never blame her for the way Klahadore acted. I'll just act like I'm angry and not visit for a few days. Then, when I come back, I'll tell Kaya that I'll only 'forgive' her if she forces the bastard butler to apologize to me and my father while bowing on his knees," said a smirking Usopp with a surprising amount vindictive amusement.

"Shishishishi! That's kind of cruel… but I like it. You'll fit perfectly with us," said Luffy before patting Usopp on the back in a show of comradery. He then tilted his head as he saw something on the beach bellow the cliff and he raised an eyebrow as he pointed in that direction. "Speaking of the bastard butler… what is he doing there with that weird guy?"

Usopp looked towards where Luffy was pointing and his eyes widened at the sight of Klahadore speaking with a guy he has never seen before. "Why is he here?! And who the hell is that? I've never seen him before!"

The weird and unknown guy with Klahadore was a tall and lean man with a long chin that had black and red strips and light-colored hair. He was wearing a dark blue hat, a matching colored jacket over a plain white shirt, green-brown gloves, light brown pants with a black belt and black shoes with big white socks. On his face there was a pair of heart-shaped glasses.

"Why were you sleeping in the middle of the town alongside three other kids, Jango? I thought I told you to not draw attention from the villagers," said Klahadore with a clearly annoyed tone of voice that matched the expression on his bruised face.

The man named Jango struck a pose as he looked away from Klahadore. "How can I attract any attention? It's not like I'm weird or something."

Luffy and Usopp exchanged looks and nodded. They went prone and decided to listen to the extremely suspicious conversation that was happening.

Klahadore pushed up his glasses with the palm of his hand as he regarded Jango with his annoyed expression. "… are you prepared for it?"

Jango locked eyes with him from behind his glasses. "Of course! We can start operation 'Assassinate Kaya-sama' whenever you wish."

Usopp's eyes widened in disbelief and anger as he heard Jango's words. Luffy's eyes narrowed as his expression turned into one of seriousness as his finger dug into the edge of the cliff. They managed to keep themselves silent in order to not give away their position and thus learn more about Klahadore's treacherous intentions.

"'Assassinate' is such an ugly word," said Klahadore as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants.

Jango kept his pose as he regarded Klahadore with some amusement. "Ah. Yeah. Accident. We'll call it an accident. Isn't that right…" he railed off as he tilted his head a bit. "… Captain Kuro?"

Luffy's eyes narrowed a bit more as he looked at 'Klahadore'. After a moment he nodded his head. "That's indeed Kuro of a Hundred Plans. When I was learning about prominent pirates on East Blue, he was one of the top dogs at that moment about three years ago. His hair is of a different color and his clothes make him look smaller but that's definitely him," said Luffy in a whisper, not wanting to give away their position.

"But didn't he get caught three years ago and executed by the marines?" Asked Usopp before his eyes widened in a sudden realization. "Wait… 'Klahadore' showed up three years ago too! He's been planning to kill Kaya all this time?!" He whispered harshly as he glared angrily down at the two men.

"I still remember that day. It simply shocked me," said Jango.

"Hm?" Was the only sound made by Kuro made as his eyes flicked towards Jango.

Jango struck another pose before he elaborated. "You said you were going to give up being a pirate and made me the captain!" He said before twirling around until he stood facing away from Kuro. "Everyone thinks that Captain Kuro has been executed by the marines! But you actually hid in this village and told us, your crew, to come here in three years' time to enact your master plan!"

Kuro simply turned to regard Jango with an annoyed expression on his face.

Jango sat in one of the rocks as he rearranged his hat. "Before, when I worked for you, the only reason I did so was because of the many… benefits. I'll be getting a good share of the profits this time as well, right?"

Kuro nodded his head. "Of course. If we succeed, you'll get your share as I promised."

Jango pointed at himself. "Good! Leave that girl to me!"

Kuro regarded Jango with a sharp look as his left hand came out of his pocket and began to twitch slightly. "Remember. Simply killing her is not enough. You have to make sure that it looks like an accident! It certainly doesn't look like you are ready if you can't remember that crucial part of the plan!"

"Bah! I'm completely ready!" Declared Jango before raising a finger and holding it up as if he was a teacher explaining his subject to a class full of students. "The Black Cat Pirates will come through the northern part of the village since it's has been unused in a long time and thus no one would expect it. We'll charge in and kill everyone including your dear Kaya-sama. It's going to look like pirates acting like pirates. After that, you can claim her inheritance without issues."

Kuro looked away from Jango in disgust as he pushed up his glasses with the palm of his hand. "I wonder if your mother actually gave you a brain! I have no familial relation to her so how can I claim her inheritance just like that, huh?"

"Nuances like that can be worked out," said Jango uncaringly.

"No!" Exclaimed Kuro as he turned around and approached Jango before shoving his finger into his chest. "The most important is that you have to hypnotize her before you kill her. Have her write my name into her will! 'I will leave all my wealth to my butler Klahadore'. Do you understand?"

Usopp's entire body began to shake as his rage and hatred for Kuro began to reach a new crescendo. Luffy's hold on the edge of the cliff had long since pulverized the rock he was holding on to.

Kuro continued speaking as he adopted a satisfied smirk on his face. "That way I can openly claim her wealth. I've spent three years getting everyone in Syrup Village to trust me. As soon as she writes her will with me in it no one will suspect me!"

Jango gave him a distasteful look. "Just for that you spent three years being a butler? If I were you, I would have just robbed them straight on!"

Kuro's expression twisted into one of annoyance. "If I'd done that, I'd still be an outlaw and the marines would still be chasing me. This plan will get me tons of money and keep the marines off my back as a plus! I like using my head to find a peaceful way to settle things!" He said with a smirk as he pointed at his forehead with his index finger.

Jango couldn't laughing loudly. "Peaceful ways of settling things? You mean murdering her entire family is considered peaceful?"

When he heard that, Usopp became completely still.

Kuro adopted a neutral expression as he raised an eyebrow at Jango. "What are you talking about? Her parents died of natural causes."

It was Jango's turn to raise his own eyebrow. "Who do you think you are trying to fool? Did you forget that the ones that got you poisons you used to kill them and the one you are using to make your dear Kaya-sama a 'sickly girl' was me?"

Kuro just clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked away.

"That… fucking… bastard…" Lowly growled Usopp as his glare was just pure hatred towards Kuro and to slightly lesser extent Jango. Luffy's expression had by now turned into a fierce scowl as he also glared at the two men down below.

Jango gave a low chuckle. "Whatever. There's no need to argue over little details like that. You just have to send the signal. Our ship has been anchored close by for almost a week now. The are getting antsy by all this waiting…" his trailed off a bit sinisterly as he finished with a wicked smile on his face.

When it seemed like the conversation was finally over, Usopp couldn't hold himself back any longer and he made to stand up and confront the two men right there and there. Before he could, however, Luffy stopped him by putting his hand on his back. Usopp turned towards him angrily only to falter a bit when he saw that Luffy was almost as angry as he was. Luffy shook his head at him and told him to wait for now. They watched as the two men then wait on their separate ways after Kuro reminded Jango to make sure everything looked like a pirate raid.

Usopp shot to his feet and he glared heatedly at Luffy the moment he knew it was safe to speak as loudly as he wanted. "Why did you let them go?! We can't let them get away with this! I won't let them harm the village and I sure as hell won't let any harm come to Kaya!"

Luffy also stood up and he grimly smirked at Usopp. "You know… where is this coward you were speaking of before?" He asked and chuckled a bit when Usopp deflated a bit and looked away in embarrasment. Luffy quickly sobered up. "Don't worry, Usopp. We are not going to allow them to complete their cruel and cowardly plot. However, if Kuro does indeed have the trust of the village, then we can't just simply kill him."

Usopp reluctantly nodded his head in agreement. "You are right. And I can't go and warn the village. They will just think I'm lying… like always…" muttered Usopp at the end somewhat bitterly and with a noticeably dose of self-reproach. "What should we do?"

"We know what they are planning to do and where they will be coming from, don't we?" Luffy asked rhetorically before an evil grin appeared on his face as he raised his hands at chest level and began to pup the knuckle of his right hand with his left hand in quite the menacing fashion. "I think we should give Kuro of the Hundred Plans a taste of his own medicine."

At those words, Usopp couldn't help but grin evilly as well.

 **.o0O0o.**

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Merry-san," said Nami politely as she inclined her head at the lamb-themed, tall and formally dressed man that was seeing her off. His hair was so curly that it looked like a lamb's fleece and he had two horns sticking out of it. Even his face resembled that of a lamb's somewhat and his collar had a fleece around it. Nami had barely managed to hold in her mused laughter at the sight of him at first but she had gotten used to it after their long conversation.

Merry shook his head and bowed formally at the waist. "No, Nami-san. The pleasure was all mine. I would also like to plead you to not hold the unpleasantness of earlier against Kaya-sama," he said before he rose up and regarded Nami with an almost pleading expression. "Klahadore-san and I have been taking care of her since her parents died. I'm sure you can see how that will put her in a difficult position in regards to what happened."

Nami sighed but nodded her head with a bit of reluctance. "I understand. Still, the only one that was out of place was that asshole Klahadore. Kaya shouldn't have defended his words and his actions because there was no justification for them."

Merry nodded his head. "I'm pretty sure that's the case. Usopp-kun might be a little rascal and a liar but I know he genuinely cares for Kaya-sama and that he only wants to see her happy," he said before giving a wry grin. "Also, if I may, Kaya-sama might not look like it because of her sickly countenance but she can be quite fierce and stubborn. I'm pretty sure Klahadore-san will be in the receiving end of a severe punishment for his actions and words todays."

Nami smirked at that. "We can only hope, Merry-san. We can only hope," she said before giving him a short wave. "I will be seeing you tomorrow then so I can take you to where our ship is anchored. Oh! I believe that my other companions will have more details about the things they want to add to the ship as well."

Merry nodded at her in agreement and smiled as he waved back. Satisfied with how things had gone, Nami turned around and began to make her way towards the gates of the mansion so she could procure Sunny and then meet up with Luffy and Zoro so she could tell them what she managed to arrange with Merry.

It turned out that the lamb-themed man was the real deal regarding ship design, building and/or modification. While he focused more in luxury ships since he had quite the artistic mind, he was more than capable of using his skills for more practical uses. It also helped that the ship they… acquired from Alvida was a carrack with three masts which according to Merry was one of the easiest ships to modify without too many risks to the main structure.

Since what they were planning was to increase the overall size, sturdiness and performance of the ship, the tentative prize for everything amounted to just a little more than ten million beri, which was actually less than what Nami had been expecting. She thought that what happened earlier before the 'business talks' had something to do with it but she wasn't going to complain. Also, according to Merry, the modifications were going to be taking at least a week or so because he liked to be very thorough with all of his jobs.

Nami was all up for that and she knew that neither Zoro nor Luffy would mind much. Zoro could easily continue his training and drinking on land and Luffy was the one interested on getting a proper ship so she doubted he would complain.

' _And there goes the trend of staying at every island we go to for less than a day,'_ she thought with an amused giggle as she passed by the guards at the entrance. Her mouth twisted in distaste when she felt the lecherous gazes on her sexy and athletic figure. Now that she had no use of that kind of attention from them, she found it more than a bit disgusting. However, since she had 'flirted' with them first to take advantage of them, she just ignored them as she walked towards the peacefully napping Sunny.

' _I wouldn't mind if Luffy looked at me like that though.'_ That stray thought made her blush a deep red. Nami acquired a pondering and fed up expression as she stood in front of the menean lion. _'Ugh. I can't take it anymore! I have to do something about this attraction! It's obvious that he is attracted to me but he just won't make a move no matter how many obvious hints I drop! I will have to take the initiative then!'_ Thought Nami in resolution as she adopted a determined expression.

That was when the sleeping Sunny finally registered her scent and his nose twitched a few times before his eyes opened a bit blearily. The great menean lion slowly rose to his feet and gave a powerful yawn as he stretched his back and leg. Nami, who was tiny in comparison, gave him an amused look. If it weren't for the fact that she was friends with him and that she had seen him act like a house cat many times in the past two weeks, she would have been disturbed by the sight before her.

When Sunny was done with his waking-up routine, he regarded Nami with a clearly curious expression on his surprisingly expressive face.

Nami smiled up at him. "I'm done here. Let's go meet up with Luffy and Zoro."

Sunny nodded and he began to follow Nami as she led the way forward.

"Hey, Sunny, did you get a good nap? You sure looked comfortable under that shade," asked Nami with an innocent expression on her face.

Sunny regarded her suspiciously as he slowly nodded his great head.

Nami smiled brightly at him. "That's wonderful! Do you think I can get a ride on your back? Please?" She pleaded and even gave him puppy dog eyes as she cupped her hands together beneath her chin.

Sunny's following snort and denial had her pouting morosely the rest of the way.

Nami and Sunny reached the village proper a few minutes later and it didn't take them long to find Zoro and Luffy. Since Zoro had not come with them to the mansion, it had been easier for her to deduce that he would go to the local bar to try to get drunk as quick as he possibly could and she knew Luffy would be with him. She was surprised, however, when she saw that Usopp was there as well along with three kids she had never seen before.

The six of them stood in front of the bar and both Nami and Sunny were quick to notice the solemn and serious air surrounding them when they approached. Nami also noticed that Usopp had what she recognized as Luffy's flintlock being held up to his person by his white sash. If that wasn't an indication about him becoming a member of their crew then she didn't now what would be. That only served to make her more curious about the current atmosphere since she thought that getting a new crewmate would have him in a happy mood, just like it had been when Zoro joined them.

"What happened? And who are the brats?" Those were the only things she felt she could ask considering the situation.

Sunny also regarded the group with a curious look as he ignored the awed and frightful gazes of the 'three brats'.

Usopp was the first to answer as he motioned towards the three kids. "They are my friends and I trust them. We are going to be needing their help for tomorrow."

Nami's eyebrows went up. "Tomorrow? What's happening tomorrow? Luffy?"

The straw hat wearing teen looked at Nami with a grim smile on his face. "Let's just say that modifying our ship is no longer our first priority for now, Nami. I already filled Zoro in. Come on. I'll tell you and Sunny but have to get out of the village first. Fair warning though. You are not going to like it."

Nami looked at him unsurely and with a bit of dread building up. "Okay…" she trailed off as she watched the six males start to walk away. She exchanged glances with Sunny before the two of them shrugged and hastily moved to fall into step behind them. Even though she was unsure, she was still curious to find out about any new development even though the part about her not liking it made her a bit nervous. Still, she wanted to find out…

… and Luffy was right. She didn't like it at all.

 **.o0O0o.**

"Um, Nami-san, Merry?" Called out a slightly unsure Kaya as she stood on the beach of the southern part of the village. Nami and Merry stood at her side as she regarded the boat in front of her with some trepidation, her cute little toes wriggling slightly at the feel of sand inside her sandals. "Is this really a good idea?"

Merry also looked unsure. "Well… this was proposed by Nami-san. I have to admit that I am unsure as well."

Nami smiled brightly at the two of them. "There's no need to worry. Didn't you know that stepping out of the house every once in a while is good for people that get sick often?" She asked rhetorically before she adopted a slightly apologetic expression on her face. "And I also want to apologize for how I treated you yesterday. You had nothing to do with how that asshole Ku-Klahadore treated Usopp. I guess I just got mad because you tried to defend his actions but it never occurred to me until later that you know him better than I do so…" she trailed off, smiling nervously at her near slip.

Kaya blushed a bit and began to wave her arms frantically in front of her. "Nami-san! There's no need for you to apologize! I believe that I deserved it for not siding with Usopp-kun yesterday. But I also knew that Klahadore was just worried about me and that was why he became a bit… zealous," she finished a bit lamely as she deflated.

Nami put her fists against her shapely hips. "No, Kaya. I insist. I heard that you have never been on a real ship despite Merry's hobby. I bet there are a bunch of cool things I could show you," she said in a tempting tone as she wiggled her eyebrows almost conspiratorially.

Kaya giggled a bit at that. "Well… I always wanted to go on adventures through the seas…" she admitted, blushing again as she recalled that Usopp's fantastical lies were part of the reason of that desire of hers. She knew that his stories were lies but she also knew that reality surpassed fiction. She had read about the wonders that could be found all over the world and one of her dreams was to see them all with her own eyes. Kaya couldn't help but curse her sickly disposition for who knows how many times.

Nami grinned and clasped Kaya's hands eagerly in between hers. "Well, I don't know about going on actual adventures but I think I can help you with the next best thing," she said before turning towards Merry. "You said that you had to see the ship sailing for a bit in order to get more accurate information on how to modify it right?"

Merry immediately saw where Nami was going and he nodded as he smiled softly. "That would be correct!"

Nami turned towards Kaya. "What do you say to trip around the Gecko Islands, Kaya?"

The light brown eyes of the blonde girl couldn't be filled with more excitement and happiness. "Okay!"

"Let's go!"

As Nami and Merry helped Kaya get into the bout so they could go towards the ship, the orangette couldn't help but hope that their plan to stop Kuro's own plot and also reveal his true colors to Kaya worked. There was no reason it would fail considering that they had the element of surprise and foreknowledge, but Nami couldn't help but worry.

 **.o0O0o.**

On the northern shore of the island in which Syrup Village was located, a massive but simple red and black pirate ship with a black cat as a figurehead, a pair of ornamental cat claws on the sides and a green based hull docked on the beach of the shore. There was a wide slope being flanked by cliffs in front of them that led towards the forests located north of Syrup Village.

Jango stood on the deck in front of more than two dozen pirates wearing some type of feline ornament on them. They were brandishing all kinds of weapons, blades and guns alike, as they sported bloodthirsty grins on their faces while they looked towards the land.

"Let's go! Our plan is to destroy the village, kill everybody and take every precious thing they have for ourselves!" Declared Jango loudly.

The Black Cat Pirates responded with a loud bellow of excitement and eagerness. "OOOOOOOOHHH!"

They all jumped off the ship and landed on the shallow part of the beach before they began to charge towards the slope. It was when the reached it that they noticed the four figures standing on top of it looking down of them.

One of the pirates called towards Jango. "Captain! There are three men and…" his eyes widened and he began to shake a little when he noticed what the fourth figure actually was. "…a-a me-menean lion on top of the slope, si-sir!"

"What?!" Screamed Jango as he walked forward until he stood at the front of the black pirates and his heart shaped eyes widened when he saw that there were indeed three men accompanied by a menean lion standing there. _'Where they expecting us? That's impossible! Captain Kuro and I made sure that only the two of us and the rest of the crew knew about the plan! I didn't spill the beans to anybody, nor did anyone of the crew and I'm sure as hell that Captain Kuro didn't either!'_ Jango shook his head at those thoughts. "Who are you and what the hell do you want?!" He bellowed towards them instead.

The black-haired teen wearing a straw-hat smirk as he pointed at himself with his right thumb. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy," he said before he pointed at the green haired man that had three sheathed katana strapped to his haramaki. "This is Roronoa Zoro." More than one flinched at the name of the infamous 'Pirate Hunter' and Luffy's smirk widened as he then motioned towards the menean lion. "The furry one is Sunny and…" he trailed off before motioning towards the curly haired teen. "That's Usopp."

Luffy's smirk turned into a savage grin. "And we are here to stop you and that fucking coward Kuro from killing Kaya, Jango!"

' _Shit!'_ Thought Jango as he took a step back and began to shake in nervousness.

"Captain!" One of the black cat pirates called out. "There are only four of them! Even if one of them is a menean lion there's no way that they can stop almost thirty of us!"

Jango immediately calmed down when he realized that as well. "You are correct! Attack my comrades! Our long wait shall not be wasted by posturing brats!" He shouted as he pointed at them. The horde of feline-inspired pirates gave a loud bellow as they began to charge forward with renewed confidence.

The bill of Luffy's straw-hat shadowed his eyes as he grinned menacingly. "Zoro. Sunny. Do your thing. These guys are scum so show them the same mercy they would have shown the people of the village. And Usopp…" trialed off Luffy as he tilted his head slightly in the direction of the curly haired boy. "… show me just how good my new master gunner is."

Sunny bared all his sharp and wicked teeth as he growled and glared at the incoming pirates. His following roar easily surpassed the sound the pirates were making and made them visibly falter even though they were still charging towards them.

Zoro quickly pulled out his bandana and wrapped it around his head, covering his head and shadowing his eyes and quite the menacing fashion. He unsheathed Wado Ichimonji and brought it up to his mouth. Before he clasped it with his teeth, he grinned at Luffy in a savage and bloodthirsty manner. "Roger that, Captain," he said before he unsheathed his two unnamed sword and charged forward at high speeds to meet the horde of pirates head on.

Sunny, who was actually a bit slower, was hot on his heels as he two ran towards the incoming pirates.

Usopp trembled a bit as he wrapped his right hand around the grip of the flintlock pistol Luffy gave to him yesterday. _'Do I have what it takes to take a human life?'_ He thought to himself as pulled out the gun and took aim with his trembling hand. He watched with widening eyes as Zoro began to swiftly cut down the pirates they were foolish enough to face him and Sunny began to use his teeth and claws to cut open throats and bellies in a very savage manner.

Usopp swallowed the bile that had threatened to force itself out and he began to think of Kaya and the villagers and what would have happened to her had he not learned of Kuro's plan. His eyes hardened and his shaking stopped as his pupil behind his googles widened and locked in one of the pirates at the far back of the group. _'If it's against bastards like these…'_ he trailed off and pulled on the trigger.

The pirate fell back with a bleeding hole right in between his eyes. _'… I think I do have what it takes!'_ He declared in his mind as he took aim towards another pirate and shot resulting in another perfect head shot. Usopp bared his teeth as smoke trailed up from the muzzle of the barrel of the gun. "If you think I'm going to let you even step foot inside my village you have another damn thing coming!"

Luffy could only grin as he watched Usopp perfectly connect every single shot he made. _'It seems like marksmanship runs in the family,'_ he thought in satisfaction before he looked down to see Zoro and Sunny making quick work of the black cat pirates that Usopp wasn't nailing down with his shots. _'I think Zoro is ready to start learning Soru already and Sunny will be as well in about a week or so. I can't wait until they can use all the Rokushiki techniques!'_ Thought Luffy with his grin only becoming wider.

Jango, for his part, could only stare in wide eyed horror as almost his entire crew was massacred by what could only be a demon wielding three blades, a demon beast and a demon with impossible accuracy. In less than three minutes his men were painting the sand of the slope red with their blood either already dead by bullet wounds, ripped open throats and stomachs or dying by bleeding out by wounds that were not immediately lethal from Zoro's sword slashes.

The only reason he was alive was because he had pulled back the moment the fight, if it could even bee called that, began. He could see the demon wielding three blades and the demon beast, covered in the blood of his comrades, slowly and menacingly approach him and behind them he could see the teen with the straw-hat grinning while the demon with the impossible accuracy slowly loaded some bullets into his flintlock pistol before taking aim directly at him.

Jango had no other choice but to call for back up. "Nyanban Brothers! Come down!"

Both Zoro and Sunny paused when they heard this and Luffy and Usopp looked on curiously to see what was going to happen.

On the deck of the ship, a thin man cupped his chin in a pondering fashion. "Hey! The captain is calling for us!"

Another man, this one more robust, turned quickly turned towards the thin man. "What? They haven't got to the village yet? Why are they still here?"

The two of then walked towards the front edge of the deck and they looked down to see that their crewmembers were either killed or quickly bleeding out and dying. Their eyes widened when they saw a man wielding three swords and a menean lion standing not too far away from their captain. They wasted not time to jump down and they landed protectively in front of Jango.

"Sham! Buchi! Those two killed our crewmates! We most get revenge before we can accomplish Captain Kuro's plan!" Declared Jango as he pulled out his pendulum from the insides of his trench coat. "They are extremely strong! I will hypnotize you to make you stronger and faster!"

Sham was a man of fairly tall height, standing at over six and a half feet. His hunched back made him look smaller than he actually was. He had green hair that is parted to the side and curls at the end with two other parts of hair on the sides of his head growing downwards in a curly-looking way. He also had cat ears sticking out from the top of head. He had green cat-like eyes. He wore a navy-blue shirt with light grey buttons and a magenta bow tie. He also had light-blue shorts, brown shoes and white socks that stick out of them. He had dark brown gloves with claws growing out at the end.

Buchi was an overweight man who wore an outfit based loosely on a black and white cat. He had pale skin, sharp teeth, tiny eyes, and wore cat ears on his head. His pants were striped black and white. He also wore a yellow sash and dark brown shoes. There was a cape on his back that was striped light and dark-purple with a white fluffy brim. He also wore a shoulder pad on his left arm and pale blue gloves with claws at the end.

Sham nodded his head in understanding as he brandished his clawed gloves. "Go ahead, Captain Jango!"

Buchi also nodded. "Hypnotize us! I will tear them and crush them to death!"

Zoro clicked his tongue in annoyance when he heard this before he charged forward. "As if! I ain't got time to waste on fucking parlor tricks!" He shouted and he reached the two brothers before Jango could do more than open his mouth to begin the process of hypnotizing them. Their claws clashed against his unnamed blades and Zoro allowed a grin to appear on his face at their shocked faces. It seemed like they were not expecting him being capable of holding them back at the same time without visible strain on his part. Zoro knew that it was only possible thanks to Luffy's training methods.

Jango had a despairing expression on his face as he watched the Nyanban Brothers engage Zoro in extremely fast paced duel of blades and claws that he could barely follow. He then turned his attention towards the menean lion when it growled at him and Jango quickly grabbed his 'pendulum', which was actually a ring blade, and launched it towards the demon beast.

Sunny swatted it aside with his own claws like it was nothing and snarled at Jango.

The hypnotist's glasses slowly fell from his face, revealing his heart shaped eyes, and his arms hung limply at his sides as he stared at the menean lion in resigned horror. "… fuck me."

All the way up at the higher end of the slope, Usopp took aim towards where Zoro was fighting the Nyanban Brothers. "Should I help him?"

"Nah," said Luffy uncaringly as he shoved his hands into his pocket and watched what was happening with amused eyes and a smirk. Jango was doing his best to keep Sunny away from him by running around the beach and launching those ring-blades of his towards Sunny when he could, only for it to have no effect since the menean lion was many times faster than Jango and his claws were sharper and stronger than Jango's weapons thanks to Luffy's training. Luffy could tell that Sunny was playing with his food.

He then turned towards Zoro and grinned widely. "Zoro's got this. It wouldn't surprise me if he jumps in front of any bullet you shoot with the intention of helping him."

Usopp looked at him with wide eyes before turning towards Zoro's fight as he lowered his flintlock pistol. After a few moments he snorted and smirked. "You know, Captain? For some reason I think that wouldn't surprise me if it turned out to be the case."

Back with Zoro…

As he clashed his blades against the claws of his opponents, he couldn't help but grin with satisfied delight. _'These weird guys are good! They might not be swordsmen but skill is still skill no matter what!'_ He thought as he blocked a diagonal slash from Sham with the flat of the sword on his right hand and countered a heel drop from Buchi with the pommel of the sword held on left hand and sent him flying back by applying less than half of his current top strength. _'Two weeks ago, I would have been only capable of comfortably dealing with one of them! But now these guys are barely a warm up!'_

Deciding to end the fight, Zoro braced himself as he watched the Nyanban Brothers attack him in a way the made it look like they were a bizarre mirror of each other, showing how coordinated and in sync they were. In a surprising move, Zoro stepped back and allowed their clawed palm strike converge closer into each other so he could use the flat side of Wado Ichimonji to the block the attacks simultaneously.

The eyes of the Nyanban Brothers widened in shock at this. "What?!"

"This is the end of the road for you!" Shouted Zoro before he brought his two unnamed swords forward into twin horizontal slash attacks from his right side. His left sword caught Buchi in the stomach and cut through his skin, layers of fat and muscles, opening up his abdomen with an arc of splashing blood and making his innards spill out to the ground. With a scream of anguish and pain, Buchi fell to his knees and began to uselessly try to puck his intestines back inside. Zoro raised an eyebrow when his right sword only managed to cut off Sham's shirt, revealing that he was incredibly skinny. If it weren't for the visible muscles of his abdomen it would have looked extremely unhealthy.

"Buchi!" Shouted Sham in horror before turning furious eyes towards Zoro. "I will fucking kill you for that!" He screamed before wildly launching himself at Zoro, forgetting in his anger that if he couldn't bypass Zoro's defenses while working in tandem with his brother there was no way he could do it on his own.

"I doubt it," said Zoro with derision before crossing his two swords across his chest and placing the blade of Wado Ichimonji horizontally behind them. "In your last moments thankful. This is more than you deserve. Oni Giri!" He declared before jumping forward to meet the incoming Sham head on. With his superior agility and strength, Zoro used a simultaneous three-way slashing attack to sever Sham's arms at the elbows with his unnamed swords and separate his chest from his abdomen horizontally using Wado Ichimonji.

Zoro flicked off the blood of his two unnamed blades before sheathing them. He then took off Wado Ichimonji from his mouth and flicked off the blood that covered its blade before sheathing it as well. He watched dispassionately as Buchi bleed to death while staring in horror at the bleeding severed pieces of his dead brother. "You guys shouldn't have followed Kuro's plan. This is what happens to the scum that think they can do as they please and fuck others over," he said as he took off his bandana.

It was in that moment that Sunny decided that he had enough playing with Jango and knocked the screaming hypnotist to the ground with his claws digging in into the flesh of his arms. Jango's shrill screaming was abruptly cut out when Sunny used his fangs to rip out his throat, almost cutting off his head due to the size of his teeth and the strength he'd put into the action.

Luffy grinned and sent a thumb up towards Zoro and Sunny. "Nice work you guys! If I remember correctly, the Nyanban Brothers and that Jango guy have a combined bounty of sixteen million beri dead or alive. They are still recognizable so we are going to be able to cash their bounties in!"

Sunny answered with a happy and satisfied roar before he began to make his way towards the beach. Even though he didn't like water, much less salt water, he needed to wash off all the blood from his majestic fur after all.

Zoro snorted as he began to make his way up the slope, ignoring all the dead bodies and the blood. "I think Nami is rubbing off on you a bit too much, Captain."

' _Not in the way I'd really like,'_ thought Luffy a slightly perverted smile that he shook off after a moment. Now wasn't the time to have those thoughts after all. "Hey. Do you know how expensive is going to be getting a proper ship built for the Grand Line? Not only that, but what about the amount we are going to expend on provisions, equipment and all the other things that we are going to need to sail for weeks on end without issues? The more money we have now the less we are going to have to worry about it later and focus on other things like adventuring and keep getting stronger every day," he said in a 'wise' tone.

Zoro reached where Luffy and Usopp were standing in the time by the time his captain finished talking. He snorted and waved it off uncaringly. "Meh. As long as I've got booze to get drunk every day and someone strong to fight on a regular basis, I'm good. Don't make me repeat it some may times."

Luffy just laughed and slapped Zoro across his back getting a smirk and a shove from his green haired First Mate.

Usopp secured his flintlock back on its place using his sash and removed his goggles from his eyes by letting them hang from his neck. "What now?" He was slightly pale and shaking but Luffy knew that it was because of the fading adrenaline and the bloodshed in front of them. Despite clearly being the first time Usopp saw, much less being part of, such a thing, he could see in the eyes of his Master Gunner that he was going to be fine.

Luffy smirked as he turned towards the forest behind him. "Now we wait for the man of the hour. You guys can relax. Your part is done. I'll take care of the rest."

"Roger that, Captain," said Zoro lazily before he began to make his way towards on of the lone threes that stood on the cliff that flanked the slope on the right side. In his characteristic uncaring fashion, Zoro sat down and rested his upper body against the bark of the three closest to the sea after unstrapping his swords laying them on his lap. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. Luffy wouldn't be surprised if he fell asleep shortly.

Usopp saluted and nodded at him before he moved towards a rock that had a flat surface on the top. He climbed on it before he sat down cross legged and also crossed his arms over his chest. Luffy noticed that his eyes would occasionally trail off towards the dead bodies of the Black Cat Pirates painting the beach red with their blood only to quickly look away towards the forest with a pale face and trembling arms and then repeat the process again.

Luffy himself just began to patiently wait for Kuro…

… and it didn't take long for him to appear from the edge of the forest wearing his butler get up and carrying a briefcase. When his eyes widened at the sight of him, Luffy grinned menacingly as he spread his arms wide at his side, the bloodshed behind him plain to see. "Well, hello there Kuro of the Hundred Plans! As a master tactician and strategist, I would like your opinion on my own plan to counter yours!"

Kuro paled as he stared at the blood-and-death filled beach behind Luffy with wide eyes. Not a moment later his eyes narrowed and his entire body began to shake in wrath as his hold around the briefcase tightened. He glared at Luffy with hate filled eyes. "You… you… do you have any idea of what you have done?! Of what you have ruined?!"

Luffy lost his grin and he lowered his arms. "A three-year plan of a coward that faked his own death and wouldn't think twice about murdering innocent people as long as it resulted in a 'peaceful end', right?" Deadpanned Luffy and his savage grin came back with a vengeance when he saw Kuro becoming shocked again. "Oh yes. Usopp here and I learned about your 'master plan' by coincidence when you discussed it with Jango yesterday. Funny how the world works, huh? Shishishishi!"

"A coincidence…" muttered Kuro in disbelief as he stared blankly at Luffy with wide eyes. "… a fucking coincidence…"

Luffy's eyes quickly flickered to the side and his grin widened before he focused back on Kuro. "Yup. A coincidence. We learned about your plans to hypnotize Kaya and have her make you the only beneficiated party of her will and then assassinate her to make do with all her wealth and live a 'peaceful' life because of a coincidence. How does it feel, Kuro?"

Usopp noticed the same thing as Luffy and he quickly shot up to his feet and pointed angrily at him while growling. "You murdered Kaya's parents and made it look like it was of natural causes! You used her broken heart opportunity to get closer to her didn't you, you bastard?!" Usopp wasn't necessarily faking his anger and hatred at that moment.

Kuro barely reacted with full body twitch. "My plan… my carefully concocted plan… ruined… because of a… fucking… coincidence," he continued to mutter in disbelief.

"Klahadore…"

That feminine and pained voice did get a reaction from Kuro and he turned sharply towards the source to see a crying Kaya looking at him from a few feet away. Merry stood slightly behind her with his hands on her shoulders as he glared at Kuro with fury and hatred. Nami stood behind her at her other side while smirking victoriously and vindictively at him.

"… Nami-san told us everything. I didn't want to believe her but…" she trailed off as she turned towards Usopp and Luffy only to sharply close her eyes when she saw the bloody slope full of dead bodies. She paled and looked like she was about to throw up. More than one person was surprised when she visibly swallowed her rising bile while trembling and shaking her head. Kaya opened her eyes and they were full of tears and raw pain. "… are you not even going to try to deny it?"

After a few moments of staring at each other, Kuro gave a wordless scream of rage that made Kaya and Merry flinch. He quickly opened his briefcase and pulled out a pair of furred gloves that had full length katana blades at the end of each finger that he slipped on. The eyes of Kaya and Merry widened when he suddenly disappeared from their sight.

Both Usopp and Nami managed to catch his movement and they reacted to try to intercept him. Nami pulled out her retractable staff, enlarged in and jumped try to stand defensively in front of Kaya and Merry. Usopp pulled out his flintlock and tried to aim towards Kuro would be taking into consideration his moving speed and momentum. Their eyes widened when they noticed that they wouldn't be capable of completing their actions in time.

They shouldn't have even bothered.

The eyes of Kaya and Merry widened even further when Kuro appeared in front of them as abruptly as he had disappeared, the katana blades of his furred gloves inches away from Kaya's face, which made her jump back into Merry with a gasp. Spittle and some blood flew out of Kuro's mouth as his throat met Luffy's bicep who had moved to intercept him.

The straw-hat wearing teen gave Kuro a look of disgusted speculation. "Is that the so-called secret behind the 'unparalleled' speed of the infamous Kuro of a Hundred Plans? That's barely a bastardized version of an incomplete Soru," said Luffy with derision as he then grabbed Kuro by his crushed throat and forced him to the ground with authority. Luffy ignored his pained grunt as he leaned got in Kuro's face. "I know that you are a coward that doesn't even follow a code but I'm not. Captains fight captains or did you forget that in the past three years?" Whispered Luffy harshly before he pulled back and began to repeatedly punch Kuro's face in.

Merry looked on with grim satisfaction and even though Kaya was still crying and in pain and was even flinching a bit every time Luffy's fist connected with Kuro's face, she didn't make any move to stop what was happening.

Usopp was just looking on with awe and satisfaction at Luffy pummeling Kuro's face in. _'This is the guy that will be my Captain! I will make sure to work as hard as I can to not disappoint his expectations of me!'_ Usopp swore right there and there.

' _Is it weird that I'm find Luffy almost unbearably hot right now?'_ Nami asked herself as she blushed while watching on Luffy caving Kuro's face in. She shook her head of those thoughts and focused on the grimmer ones Luffy's actions brought up. _'He took down a guy with a sixteen million bounty like it was nothing! Perhaps he really can… No! Nami! Luffy is a normal human and Arlong is a fishman. There's just no way Luffy can defeat him no matter how strong he is. I will give Arlong his one hundred million beri and buy back Cocoyashi from him! That's the only thing I can do…'_

Luffy finally stopped punching Kuro when his face was just a bloody bruise that couldn't be even remotely recognized. "Blegh. Disgusting," said Luffy as he looked at his fist covered in Kuro's blood, mucus and saliva which he quickly wiped off on Kuro's shirt. He then brought up the whimpering Kuro to a kneeling position and held him up by grabbing his previously perfectly combed hair. "I really want to kill you know but I believe that there's someone else more deserving of permanently ridding the world of you, trash."

Luffy turned towards Kaya and he spoke before Merry could speak his words of protest. He looked at her seriously. "Some naïve people will tell you that you shouldn't sully your hands with this scumbag's blood and that killing him would just make him as bad as him. But ask yourself this…" Luffy trailed off as he tightened his hold on Kuro's hair making him give lauder whimpers of agony. "Would you condemn innocent people to die just to fulfill your own cowardly sense of greed?"

Kaya didn't hesitate to shake her head as her eyes began to harden and fury and hatred began to slowly replace the pain in them.

Luffy had a grim expression on his face as he continued speaking. "Me? I am a believer of the proverb 'An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. And evil for another evil'. Justice? Punishment? Vengeance? Those words don't matter. It's all the fucking same in the end. The only difference between them is who is claiming to do what and the reason behind it. What truly matters is that this scumbag get's his due. He killed your parents. He poisoned you and made you think that you were a sickly girl. He was planning to have you and everyone in the village killed. And all because of his cowardly greed."

Usopp wordlessly hopped off the rock he had been standing on and approached Kaya. He twirled his flintlock around until he was holding it by the muzzle and presenting its grip towards her. Her face contorted in fury and hatred, Kaya grabbed it and ripped herself off from Merry's hold. She took a few steps forward and pressed the cannon of the flintlock against the place Kuro's forehead supposed to be. Tears trailed down her face as she glared down at him hatefully. "You… you killed mom and dad! You made me think that my dreams would be impossible!"

Kuro tried to form words. "Kah… Kah…"

"Die!" Screamed Kaya as she pulled the trigger. The bullet went cleanly through.

Kaya then began to cry brokenly as the flintlock felt to the ground from her limp fingers as she felt to her knees. Usopp was the first one to react and he was quickly kneeling by her side and wrapping his arms protectively and comfortingly around her as he too began to cry as well. Tears were also falling from Merry's eyes as he watched on solemnly.

Luffy released his hold on the hair of the dead body and allowed it to fall limply to the ground. He locked eyes with Nami and the two of them exchanged short, grim and understanding nods as they just continued to watch on silently.

From where he was, Zoro was also looking on with a solemn expression on his face.

Kuro of The Hundred Plans died by the hands of the person he had wronged the most.

True Justice was served today…

… but in exchange, the pureness and innocence of a young woman was lost forever.

* * *

 **Holy Crap on a Stick! Wasn't that a wild ride?**

 **Yes. I know. It's been more than a year since I published the first chapter for this story. That's why I decided to bring you guys the a 34k behemoth as the second chapter as an apologize for those that were disappointed by me not updating this story way sooner. To be honest, this chapter had been sitting at 20k words for more than a year as well but I was going through a tough time at that time. By the time I managed to pull myself back together my muse was ready to work on other things.**

 **However, after 'The Primordial Vortex' updated his story 'Supernova' and forced me to read it again in order to catch the changes he made, my One Piece muse was stroked into a smoldering inferno and I completed the chapter between yesterday evening and today. 14k words in less than two days ain't something anyone can do, you know?**

 **I also went and corrected the more glaring errors on the last chapter. Nothing changed plot wise but it should be noticeably more enjoyable to read. Because it's been so long since this story was published, I'm sure most of you will be reading the first chapter again (I know I did, lol) to see just what the fuck this is all about and why you bothered to follow it and/or favorite it in the first place.**

 **Now, with that out of the way… I'd like to make a few comments before everyone loses their mind on the review section.**

 **The only thing I'm not a fan of about One Piece is how many useless characters are being brought back just to add more 'content' to the story. I promise you that it won't be the case in my story as you clearly saw on this chapter.**

 **JofK:TWoD Luffy is a combination of some of my favorite characters in fiction. He's got his own cheerful disposition from canon, Ivar the Boneless' (Vikings)… quirkiness, Frank Castle/The Punisher (Marvel) sense of justice, John Wick's (John Wick) ruthlessness and finally, but definitely not least, my own perverted tendencies. I'm warning you now so you aren't surprised what the stuff that happens further in the future. The fate of Kuro, Jango, the Nyanban Brothers and the rest of the Black Cat Pirates will look tame in comparison. *Grins evilly as thoughts of the plans for the Arlong Park Arc goes through his head*.**

 **Can anyone figure out what I'm trying to build regarding Sunset Wind/Sunny/Richie? You'll get a cybermuffin if you can. I think is kind of obvious if you know a bit of world history though.**

 **I believe that's all for now. Next chapter will include the aftermath of what happened in this chapter, Luffy and co getting their 'new' ship, the 'El Drago' movie and the Baratie Arc. I think I can pull it off in less than 40k words and publish it some time next month. It's already outlined. I just have to write the damn thing. Wish me luck. The next Pinnacle chapter should be out before the month ends for those that are interested.**

 **Muffin out!**


	3. The Tempest

**Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda. Any other none original concept belongs to their respective owners.**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: The Tempest**

* * *

After seeing that Kaya wouldn't calm down as long as they stayed there, Usopp and Merry decided to take her back to her home. Because of the serious atmosphere, Nami had to bite back her teasing words when Usopp just scooped her up in his arms like a princess and Kaya just continued to cry into his chest. A 'not now' shake of Usopp's head also stopped Merry from protesting and he had to settle with looks of disapproval as he followed behind them.

Nami approached Luffy with a small smile on her face. "That counter plan of yours went without a hitch. How did you know Kuro would be coming here to check what was happening after seeing the village not being attacked?"

Luffy smirked a bit and shrugged his shoulders. "Truthfully, I wasn't completely sure but that was the most likely scenario considering that the pirate raid was a crucial part of plans," he said a bit sheepishly before chuckling. "On any case, I'm pretty sure that if he hadn't come and basically admitted to his plans, seeing them ruined would have inevitably ended in him showing his true colors to Kaya one way or another. I'm just glad things played out like this."

Nami nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Me too. I'm truly sorry for Kaya but in this case, a broken heart from someone that was never loyal to her in the first place is many times better than being murdered just to satisfy that same someone's cowardly greed, as you put it," she said with a sad and understanding undertone before she shook her head. "What are we going to do now?"

Luffy looked at her seriously for a moment before sighing. He knew that there was a deeper meaning to her words but he was going to be patient and let her decide on her own to share her troubles with him. "The first thing we need to do is clean is this mess up. Nina can eat the bodies and tonight's rising tide will wash up the blood. Kuro, Jango and the Nyanban Brothers have a combined bounty of thirty-two million beri. I'm going to cash it in. I just hope I don't get too much trouble what with Kuro having being barely recognizable now," he said and chuckled sheepishly at the end before rubbing his chin in a pondering fashion. "Maybe we can make use of their ship as well…"

Nami's body froze and her mind went blank when she heard about the bounty. When her brain finally rebooted, the first thing that went through her mind was this. _'Thirty-two million beri… we had forty-five million after cashing in Buggy's bounty… That would put us at seventy-seven million… three million short of what I managed to get just on my own ever since I started to gather the one hundred million to buy Cocoyashi from Arlong… in less than a month…'_ If she hadn't been there to see it this whole time, she would have called bullshit.

Luffy noticed her frozen state and got a worried look on his face as he started to snap his fingers in front of her face. "Oi! Nami! You alright?"

Nami blinked a few times before she regained all her mental faculties back. Her face got a little pink when she realized how close Luffy was to her. She made no move to pull back though. "I will take the ship back to where we anchored it when we arrived yesterday. Merry-san did manage to get a good look at it before I told them what was happening here and he said he will be ready to start working as soon as you and Zoro tell him what you would like added."

Luffy pulled back, smile and nodded at her. He seemingly didn't notice her slight disappointment. "Alright. I just really want a proper hammock other than the overall modifications to the ship. I'm pretty sure that whatever Zoro would want would be related to training space and his drinking. Also, we have to ask Usopp what he wants since he is a part of the crew too."

Nami adopted an amused expression as she shook her head. "I still can't believe you recruited him."

Luffy tilted his head to the side. "Why?"

Nami shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. He just doesn't look the type to be a pirate, I guess."

Luffy nodded his head without hesitation before smirking and crossing his arms. "That might be true but I just saw the guy kill ten men with ten bullets, all of them perfect headshots, with flintlock pistol at a distance of more than a hundred meters. And his dream is to become a pirate and find and give his father, who's a member of the pirate crew of a Yonko, and deck him across the face. He's actually the kind of guy I want in my crew. I don't care how he looks."

Nami couldn't help what she blurted out next. "Then why do you want me in your crew?" Her eyes widened when she realized what she just asked and when she saw that his expression turned serious as he focused on her, she looked away in a slightly bashful display. "As far as you are aware, my only motivation was to get one hundred million beri and thanks to you I have achieved that. Why would you want to keep me around?" As she asked this, Nami couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"Because I don't think your goal was to simply gather a hundred million beri, Nami," he said seriously and he smiled when she turned towards him with wide and surprised eyes. "I remember you said that you needed the money. Not that you wanted it. I think your real goal requires you having that money. I can't possibly imagine for what you would need that much… but someone willing to go that far to reach her goals is certainly someone I want by my side."

' _My freedom. The freedom of my people. Not hating myself. Not hating my own dream anymore,'_ was what Nami thought when Luffy said that he couldn't imagine what she would need one hundred beri for. She closed her eyes to prevent tears for falling down when she heard she also the type of people he wanted by her side. If he only knew the truth…

"You know you can tell me anything, right? That you can ask me to do anything for you?" Her eyes widened when she heard his serious voice and she was mesmerized by the smile he had on his face as he put a supportive hand on her shoulder. "You are my navigator, Nami. A precious member of my crew. If you need anything, whatever it is, you only have to ask."

Nami had to swallow some saliva to wet her suddenly dry throat. "… I don't want you to get hurt!" She immediately cursed herself for saying that.

Luffy filled that in for later consideration and decided to reassure her. "I know it's not your fault for thinking that and you don't know how much it means to me that you worry about me," he said meaningfully as he squeezed Nami's shoulder tenderly. He then smirked at her and pointed at himself with the thumb of his free hand. "I have been deliberately holding back most of what I can actually do. I put myself some limits to my abilities for as long as I stayed in East Blue. If I can't become the top dog on these seas only using the Rokushiki and my base physical abilities then I won't consider myself worthy of sailing the Grand Line."

Nami's breath hitched at his words and she looked at him like she was seeing him for the first time. "… what are you trying to tell me, Luffy?"

"That there's no one in all the East Blue that can even hope to be a threat to me."

He said so with so much confidence and sureness that Nami was shook to her very core. And she felt that she could actually believe him. Not only was he not boasting but she saw him defeat Alvida and her pirates without using the Rokushiki techniques. Her eyes widened. Now that she thought about it, she had only seen Luffy use to Rokushiki to show them to her and Zoro so they could visualize what they were trying to accomplish with their training.

Other than Soru, which was the easiest and first one you had to learn, she had never seen Luffy use the other techniques to win his fights. While he said that he used Shigan, it had been to kill Morgan which meant that he had defeated him without using it in the first place. Other than that, he didn't use them against Buggy nor against Kuro…

Luffy's smirk widened when he saw the realization appearing on her face. "So… are you going to tell me?"

Nami stared at him for a few moments before she slowly shook her head in the negative. "I… can you give me a few more days, please?" She pleaded him. It was one thing to realize that the possible solution to he troubles was standing right in front her and a completely different one to actually consider it as an actual possibility. Subconsciously, Nami always knew that getting one hundred million beri wouldn't assure her that a scumbag like Arlong would sell her back Cocoyashi for that amount. That was why…

Luffy squeezed her shoulder tenderly once again and he smiled softly at her. "For as long as you need, Nami, I'll wait. I will always be here for you."

Nami couldn't resist the urge any longer and she threw herself at Luffy, wrapping her arms tightly around his muscular torso and burying her face into his solid chest as she began to lightly sob. Luffy kept the smile on his face as he returned her hug just as tightly before pressing his chin against the top of her head.

"Thank you… Captain."

As her muffled words, Luffy couldn't help but widen his smile. "Any time, Nami. Any time…"

 **.o0O0o.**

Usopp was at a loss right now.

He, alongside Merry, had brought Kaya back to her home with the hope of calming her down but she was still crying unconsolably. Because she had refused to let go of him, he had been forced (not that he minded, really) to stay with her inside her room. Even though Merry obviously disapproved, one look at the crying Kaya clinging to him like a lifeline had been enough to convince him that sending Usopp away wasn't exactly the best idea at the moment.

Merry had left the two of them alone after sending Usopp a warning look. Since Kaya was obviously undisposed right now, it fell to him dealing with the fallout of Klahadore/Kuro's betrayal. Since he also had the incoming responsibility of modifying a ship, he knew that he couldn't waste any time on that.

Usopp knew for a fact that he wasn't good at consoling people, much less women that were sad and heartbroken. The fact that he had turned to lying to try and comfort his mother about his father's abandonment spoke by itself. He also wasn't very good with words. So, as he sat on Kaya's bed with her sitting across his lap and crying into his chest, he just wrapped his arms tightly around her and held her.

Eventually, Kaya ran out of tears and slightly calmed down to the point that she was just constantly sobbing and sniffling. Usopp could feel that the upper part of his overalls was soaked with her tears, snot and saliva after all her crying against his chest but he didn't mind in the slightest. Being there for Kaya when she needed was way more important than getting his clothes ruined after all.

"You… you must think… that… I am an idiot… and a horrible… person, right?" Softly spoke Kaya, her sobs and sniffles making her pause here and there against her will.

Her words greatly shocked Usopp and he jerked back as he looked down at her with wide eyes. "What?!"

Kaya also raised her head and Usopp could see that both her eyes and her face were red and swollen because of her crying. "I… let myself be fooled… by Klaha… no… by Kuro… for all these years…" She paused and her face contorted into an expression of self-disgust and self-hatred before she continued. "And then… I barely hesitated… to kill him… after I found out… about his… true intentions…"

Usopp didn't need to be good with words to immediately deny the validity of those claims. "Of course not, Kaya!" He shouted vehemently and he smiled gently at her when she looked at him with widened eyes. "Kuro fooled everyone here, not only you. And if you are a horrible person for taking justice into your hands against the one that killed your parents, then I am ten times as horrible for killing the men that were going to raid the village!"

Usopp was paying attention as well when he heard Luffy say that the reason behind your actions were just as, if not more so, than your actual actions.

Kaya knew that if she had any more tears to cry, they would have started a new at Usopp's words. Her face scrunched up a bit as any notion of self-hatred and self-disgust were immediately kicked out of her mind by Usopp. She wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head against his shoulder. "I'm glad… that you are… here with me… You are one… of the best things… that have… ever happened to me… Usopp-kun…"

Usopp's face became completely red at her words and he shuddered a bit at the feeling of her warm breath caressing his neck. He shook his head in order to get rid of _those_ thoughts before they even formed. Now was definitely not the time. Instead he focused on the sudden nervousness that struck him. He knew that it might be the worst time to bring it up, but Usopp also felt that if he didn't tell her know he would be making a grave mistake.

"Erm… Kaya?"

"… Hm?"

Usopp gulped nervously. "You know how I always wanted to become a brave warrior of the sea and look for my father in order to let him know just what I think about him leaving me and my mother, right?"

Kaya pulled back away from him slightly and looked into his eyes with a frown as she slowly nodded her head. "… Yeah…" She could kind of tell where this was going and if she was honest with herself, she didn't like it one bit.

Usopp began to sweat a bit. "Well… I learned that my father is a part of a famous pirate crew that sails the seas of the Grand Line. Luffy and his companions will eventually head there. That's why they want Merry to modify their ship. And…" Usopp swallowed again when he saw realization appear on Kaya's eyes before a pained expression similar to before appeared on her face. "… Luffy offered me the position as the master gunner of his crew yesterday before we learned about Kuro's' plans. And I… I accepted."

Kaya looked away from him as her face scrunched up in such a way that Usopp knew she would be crying if she hadn't run out of tears already. "You… are going to… leave…?"

Usopp looked down, uncapable of bearing the sight of Kaya being sad and in pain because of him. "… Yeah."

After a moment of silence, Kaya suddenly took a deep, shuddering breath before she let it out in a resigned and sad sigh as she continued to occasionally sob and sniffle. "… I hate it… but I would never stop you… from striving towards your dreams… Usopp-kun…" She told him and smiled sadly when he raised his head to stare at her in shock. "I just wish that… we could have been together… for much longer…"

Usopp blinked and a proverbial lightbulb lit up above his head as her words made him consider something crazy. "Kaya! That's it! I think there's a way for us to be together for a long time!"

Kaya, visibly shocked at his sudden outburst, was understandably perplexed. "What… How…" Her eyes then widened in realization and hope as she immediately caught on his intentions. "Usopp-kun! You don't mean…" She tried her best to not become too hopeful but failed spectacularly.

Usopp grinned widely as he nodded his head eagerly. "Yep! I mean exactly that! We don't have anything to lose if we try. We just have to speak to Luffy. I'm sure he would accept," he said confidently.

Kaya stared at him in wonder as a smile began to appear on her face. The only reason why she hadn't used part of her wealth to travel the world and see its wonders was because of her sickly disposition… which was because of some poison that Kuro had been feeding her for years. And truthfully, after what happened today, she wasn't sure about staying at the place that held all the memories of Kuro.

Kaya wrapped her arms around Usopp's shoulders and hugged him tightly. "Alright, Usopp-kun! Let's do it!" Perhaps doing something crazy and impulsive and getting out of here was exactly what she needed after what happened today.

Usopp, just as hopeful and excited, returned her hug just as tightly by wrapping his arms around her petite from. _'I'm just glad you are no longer sad… well, at least not for the moment. Now… how do I get Luffy to let her join the crew?'_

 **.o0O0o.**

After feeding the dead bodies of the Black Cat Pirates to Nina, who eagerly ate them all without complaint, with the help of Zoro, Luffy decided to not waste any time heading back towards Pancake Town to get the bounties of the Nyanban Brothers, Jango and Kuro. To make things less troublesome, he had separated their heads (or finished doing so in the case of Jango) from their bodies, which he also fed to Nina, and put them in a bag. That way he was just going to have to make the trip there and back once.

After telling Zoro about Nami needing to know what he wanted included on their ship and ordering him to get Nina to tow the ship of the Black Cat Pirates, which was named Bezan Black he would later learn, towards where their own ship would be anchored since they were going to make use of it, Luffy made his way towards Pancake Town using Soru. Like the day before, it only took him fifteen minutes.

Luffy was surprised at the ease in which he managed to procure the bounties.

Because it had been less than a full day since he brought in Buggy's comatose head to cash in his bounty, the marines there knew that he was the 'real deal' and while surprised to see him back so soon, they still clearly remembered him when they saw him once again. Luffy had barely managed to keep a straight face at their reaction when he revealed to them the four severed heads of the wanted criminals he was planning to cash in for their bounties.

After explaining what had happened, including the fact that Kuro had actually faked his death, Luffy had been able to get the money for their bounties with just a little trouble regarding Kuro's for obvious reasons. Luffy also learned, much to his hidden amusement and surprise, that Morgan had been the one to 'capture Kuro and execute him' three years ago. When they added what happened today to the many coincidences surrounding what he did at Shells Town when he was there, he almost lost his composure by trying so hard not to laugh. That wouldn't have ended well after all.

Luffy knew that the only reason he had managed to cash it in was because of some kind of weird test they did with Kuro's blood to confirm his identity, his possession of the three other heads of wanted men related to Kuro, the fact that the head was still kind of recognizable as Kuro of the Hundred Plans despite the number he did on it and because he had saved Syrup Village in the process.

Otherwise, Luffy knew that the proceedings wouldn't have gone as smoothly as they did. After the Captain of the base told Luffy kind-of-jokingly that he couldn't come back to that base for the time being to cash in more bounties since they had barely some money left, Luffy made his way back towards Syrup Village with two suitcases containing thirty-two million beri. That, and because he could tell that these marines were of the more decent sort like the ones at Shells Town, was the reason why Luffy didn't seriously consider taking Nami to Pancake Town to rob them.

When Luffy came back, their ship and the Bezan Black were docked not too far from each other on the beach south of Syrup Village which told him that it wouldn't take long for Merry to start working on their ship. After putting the money of the newest bounties he just cashed in with the rest he and Nami had gathered so far, which he estimated to be around seventy-seven million beri, and giving some affection to Nina so she didn't feel neglected, he made his way towards the village to meet with the others.

He found Zoro, Nami and Sunny just hanging around and 'chilling' outside the village's main restaurant. He told them that he managed to procure the bounties without too much issues, which resulted in a delighted Nami wrapping her arms around him and pressing her more than generous assets against him while beaming happily up at him. As Luffy very much enjoyed the pleasant feeling, he ignored Zoro's smirk and Sunny's confusion.

It was after Zoro said what he wanted included in their ship's modifications and they got a pretty good idea of the things Sunny wanted, that Usopp, Kaya and Merry made an appearance and gathered the whole town. They told everyone about what happened and who 'Klahadore' really was and that it was thanks to Usopp, Luffy, Nami, Zoro and Sunny that they were alive and well now.

While the villagers were understandably shocked, since the information had come directly from the mouths of Merry and Kaya, who was the owner of the village and had no reason to lie about something as serious as that, they immediately believed them. Usopp was shocked and embarrassed when everyone personally thanked him for his bravery and told him that they knew that he was a great guy despite his constant lying.

After the villagers went back to doing their own thing, Luffy and co approached the Syrup Village natives who once again thanked them for what they did to prevent Kuro's plans for being accomplished. Merry even said that he was going to do the modifications to their ship for free as a sign of his appreciation and when Luffy told him about the Bezan Black, Merry claimed that it was only fair to use it as the source of the materials for the modifications.

Nami was particularly happy about the fact that she wasn't going to be spending a single beri to get what they wanted. That day Luffy learned that whenever Nami got very happy she would cling and press her body to him for some reason. He decided he quite enjoyed it and that he was going to try and make Nami very happy as often as he could from now on. Once again, Luffy easily ignored Zoro's knowing smirk and Sunny's confusion.

Before they parted ways, Luffy got the feeling that both Usopp and Kaya wanted to talk to him. He had a fairly good idea of what it was about and honestly, he was all in for it. Kaya had impressed him when she had killed Kuro with barely any hesitation after she learned who he was, what his plans were and the fact that he had killed her parents and made her believe that her dreams were literally impossible for her to accomplish.

So yeah. Luffy was not opposed to Kaya joining his crew. Quite the contrary actually. He wanted her in after seeing what she was truly made off. However, since it was something that she and Usopp wanted, he was going to let them take the initiative on this. But truthfully, they just had to ask.

 **.o0O0o.**

The day after they deal with Kuro, Luffy stood in a clearing inside the forest north of Syrup Village quite early in the morning. Nami, Zoro and Sunny stood in front of him with various degrees of enthusiasm in their faces. Merry and his workforce were already working on their ship. Apparently, it was going to take no less than twelve days to get everything they wanted done. Since they didn't have anywhere else to stay, Kaya had graciously offered to host them in her mansion, which had more than enough space for all of them.

Luffy decided to make the most out of the next twelve days training wise.

"Alright everyone! Since we won't be sailing for quite some time until our ship is ready, we are going to focus entirely on training until that happens," declared Luffy with a wide grin. His stance was a relaxed one with his hands inside the pockets of his pants and his straw hat slightly tilted upwards.

Zoro looked very eager. If there was one thing he loved more than alcohol, it was to train and gain strength noticeably after he did so. He had been becoming stronger and more skilled every single day after he joined Luffy and became the First Mate of his crew. He had no doubts in his mind that doing so had been the best decision he had ever made regarding his path towards reaching his goal of becoming the world's greatest swordsman.

Sunny looked determined. Luffy, whom he looked as his master and friend, wanted him to become the strongest menean lion that existed. Even though he found the 'exercises' Luffy put him through more than just a bit bizarre, he knew for a fact they worked. He was faster and stronger than what he ever imagined he would be. That was enough reason for Sunny to do as Luffy told him regarding this 'training' thing. It also helped that Luffy was never trying to order him around and always had lots of meat and fish for him to eat.

Nami just groaned and pouted. "Do we really have to?" She had finally gotten rid of the constant aches. While she no longer disdained training hard, she still hated the feeling of her torn and strained muscle fibers slowly healing to become stronger. She loved the gains but despised the pains, essentially.

"Yup. You are going to the Grand Line with us and the stronger you are, the higher are your chances of staying alive," replied Luffy without bating an eyelash to her pleading puppy dog eyes. She would eventually realize that they were one hundred percent ineffective when he was in 'training mode'. "With us focusing solely on training until our ship is ready, I believe that the three of you can learn and even master Soru. Heck. Knowing Zoro, I bet he will start learning Geppo before we leave."

While Zoro just grinned in satisfaction, Nami gave him a perplexed look. "Luffy… didn't you say when you started training me that it would take me about six weeks to get to the point I would be capable of starting to learn the Rokushiki?" It hasn't been a month since then yet. Twenty-seven days, counting today, to be exact.

Luffy nodded at her, happily noting that she didn't deny the bit of her going to the Grand Line with them even when she no longer needed to since she had already acquired all the money she needed. "Yeah. But that was before I actually saw your actual growth rate. Also, I wasn't expecting you to put the kind of dedication you did to your training," he said and his grin widened a bit when she blushed and bashfully looked away from him. He ignored his First Mate's snickering and Sunny's tilted head. "You were already deceptively strong when I met you. Right now you are actually quite stronger than what Zoro used to be when he joined us. A few more days of harsh training and you will be ready to learn Soru."

Nami got over her embarrasment and sighed in resignation. "Alright, alright. I get it," she said before pointing at Sunny, who was just patiently waiting for the training to start, his tail swaying lazily behind him. "What about Sunny though? Since he isn't human, I thought it was going to take him longer than even Zoro and I to reach this level," she pointed out.

Luffy considered her words before grinning shamelessly. "Eh, Sunny was already strong enough to make me actually feel his bites, which isn't as insignificant as it might sound. Besides, he's just plain awesome, right bud?"

Sunny replied with a happy and agreeing roar as he gave a feline grin.

Nami just threw her hands up in defeat. "I give up!" She declared to the amusement everyone else. She ignored that and asked another question. "So, what will we be doing for the foreseeable future?"

"Increasingly more difficult leg strengthening exercises for you and Sunny and I will be personally teaching Zoro what he needs to do in order to perform Soru," said Luffy before pausing and shrugging his shoulders. "Other than that, sparring to keep our fighting edge up and to get used to your increasing physical capabilities. Not too different from what we normally do."

Nami looked at him flatly. "Just more insane than it used to be, right?"

Luffy gave her a thumb up. "Correct!"

"Ugh."

Seemingly tired of waiting, Zoro had an annoyed expression on his face as he spoke. "Oi, Captain! Let's stop wasting our time here!" He couldn't wait to finally learn the principles of Rankyaku so he could apply it to his sword strikes. He knew that this type of training was progressive and until he learned Soru and Geppo he wouldn't be able to comprehend the technique enough to change it to his needs.

"Zoro's right. The sooner we start the faster we'll see the results. Nami. Sunny. Grab the weights. You know what to do. Zoro. Follow me," ordered Luffy.

While a slightly reluctant Nami went to help Sunny strap his weights around him before she did the same for herself, Luffy took Zoro to the other side of the clearing to instruct him how to use Soru. When Luffy told Zoro that the technique consisted in kicking off the ground at least ten times in the blink of an eye, he was surprised that the concept was really that simple.

When he voiced the thought aloud, Luffy nodded. "It is. That's why Soru is the fundamental technique of the Rokushiki. Make no mistake though. It's going to require it's due time to master it," he said before using the technique a few times at a level in which Zoro could clearly see what he was doing to give him a better idea. He stopped in front of him when he was done. "At first you will only be capable of using it to get short bursts of enhanced speed. You know you have mastered it when you can keep using Soru indefinitely."

Zoro nodded in understanding before he began to work. While he felt a bit ridiculous kicking against the ground many times as fast as he could, that feeling went away when he saw and felt himself move a few yards at speeds that he could tell were just beneath what Luffy had just shown him. With a grin and a noticeably increased amount of determination, Zoro began the process of learning Soru. He was going to master this technique before they set sail again. That was a fact.

Luffy watched him for a few moments with a pleased smile before turning towards Nami and Sunny to see them diligently doing their own exercises, which made his smile widen. Seeing them, he decided to do his own training. He went and sat against one of the threes at the edge of the clearing and closed his eyes as the bill of his straw hat shadowed the upper half of his face. When they saw him, Nami and Zoro thought he was just taking a nap. He was anything but actually.

Because of the all the years he spent training under his grandfather, Luffy actually had complete mastery over the Rokushiki and he felt that comparatively, he was better at them than his usage of the abilities available to him thanks to having eaten the Goro-Goro no Mi, even if those were pretty much mastered as well. What Luffy knew he was lacking at, in comparison with his other abilities of course, was using Haki.

While he couldn't train Busoshoku Haki at the moment unless he wanted to explain to Zoro and Nami why his arms were being covered by a black substance, he could easily train Kenbunshoku Haki and Haoshoku Haki, the latter to a certain extent. Since the former was essentially just about 'perception', he could train it without distracting the others from their own tasks.

Haoshoku Haki was a bit trickier. He couldn't just let loose the power of his will over the whole island. He didn't know how he would deal with the fallout of more than a hundred people passing out after experiencing bone-chilling terror and despair. Instead, by internalizing himself through meditation, he could actually increase the 'strength of his will' and the control he had over its effects. Luffy had learned quite early on that releasing his Haoshoku Haki for training purposes was only useful if he wanted to increase the range he could encompass.

Despite knowing about Haki for quite some time, Luffy never really got a real chance to exactly focus on it while training. That was why he knew that he had quite the long way to go before he could claim to have mastery over it despite being capable of using the three forms of it at will.

However, simply mastering Haki wasn't Luffy's ultimate goal regarding his abilities. Just like he used some of the Rokushiki techniques to inspire the development of a few techniques using his lightning powers, Luffy wanted to combine the powers of his Devil Fruit with his Haki abilities once he mastered them. He didn't know why but he had a gut instinct telling him that it could be done.

Until he reached that point or found out whether it was even possible or not to do so in the first place, Luffy knew won't be satisfied with what he could do in regards to his abilities.

Luffy was just starting to expand his range of perception with Kenbunshoku Haki when he felt two figures making their way towards the clearing. Knowing who they were and having been expecting them, Luffy stopped using Kenbunshoku and opened his eyes as he stood up. Nami, Zoro and Sunny took notice of this and while they wondered why he stopped his nap so soon and so suddenly for a moment, they went back to focusing on their training without saying a word.

Luffy grinned at Usopp and Kaya the moment they walked into the clearing. "Well hello there! How are you two doing on this fine morning?" He asked cheerfully as he walked towards them. While Usopp was an official member of his crew, he had not woken him up along the others for training for this exact same reason. He knew that he needed to come here together with Kaya so they could make their request.

Kaya was the one who answered his question as she bowed her head slightly. "I'm doing well all things considered, Luffy-san. Thanks for asking though," she said politely with a small smile. Luffy noticed that she no longer looked like she had been crying for an entire day. There was also a more 'grown' air surrounding her in comparison to when he met her.

He supposed that executing your parent's murderer, for both revenge and justice, could do that to someone.

Usopp spoke a few moments after Kaya finished greeting Luffy back. His posture went completely straight and he even gave Luffy a formal salute. "Captain Luffy, sir! This humble master gunner has a selfish request, sir!" He declared in such a loud voice that he also got the attention of the other occupants of the clearing.

At his side, Kaya's smile became one of fond exasperation with a hopeful undertone as her eyes slightly trailed towards Luffy.

The straw-hat wearing teen managed to contain his amused grin as he adopted a more serious countenance. He crossed his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow while looking at Usopp directly in the eye. "Is that so? Let's hear it then."

Usopp couldn't help the nervous gulp after seeing Luffy's expression. Still, he went on without hesitating or stuttering. "Sir! I know that I've been a member of your crew for lest than two days, sir, and that I have yet to earn the right to request a favor from you, sir! But please, sir! I would like you to consider letting Kaya here join the crew as well, sir!"

Luffy's lips twitched imperceptibly as he turned towards the blonde-haired girl. He could feel the interested gazes of Nami, Zoro and Sunny as they looked on from where they were standing. "Truly? You want to join my crew? To become a pirate?" He asked with some fake doubt and he wasn't surprised when she nodded determinately at him. "In that case, tell me, what can you offer?"

At that question, Usopp became positively hopeful and excited. It meant that Luffy was seriously considering it.

Kaya also straightened up a bit more to answer the question. "I have never fought in the past. Before yesterday… I abhorred any type of violence. And while I still feel like I don't really have it in me, I now know that some times violence is what's necessary to solve problems permanently or prevent others from arising in the first place. Other than that, I have my quite substantial wealth and enough medical knowledge to patch someone up as long as their injuries aren't extremely serious or outright lethal."

Luffy nodded his head slowly. "So… money and a budding medic, eh?" He asked rhetorically but Kaya nodded at him despite that. He looked at her grimly. "The places I'm planning to go aren't pretty, Kaya. We are going to meet people worse than Kuro and I'm not going to stand idly by and let them do as they please while they are making others suffer. You already know what I believe in and that should tell you about how I plan to approach most situations. I promise you that what happened yesterday is nothing compared to the lengths I'm willing to go to serve true justice to those that deserve it. Knowing that, are you still willing to follow me?"

Kaya's expression noticeably hardened after her slight flinch at the mention of yesterday. "Yes! As long as whatever you do doesn't make innocent people suffer, I'm more than willing to become a member of your pirate crew, Luffy-san! As long as I can reach my goals and accomplish my dreams without it being at the expenses of others that don't deserve it, I will follow you!"

Luffy finally allowed a grin to appear on his face. "Then tell me, Kaya, what exactly are your goals and dreams?"

"I want to see all the wonders this world has to offer! I want to make sure that no one suffers the same fate that almost befell me! I want to become a doctor good enough to prevent anyone that deserves to live from dying! And…" she trailed off at the end and her voice became soft and tender as she looked at Usopp with a slightly blushing face. "…I want to stay by Usopp-kun's side for as long as he'll have me."

Usopp also blushed as he looked at her wide eyes. "Kaya…"

Luffy let out a loud and delighted laugh. "That's more than enough for me! Welcome aboard, Kaya!"

The eyes of Usopp and Kaya widened as they turned sharply towards him. While the blonde-haired girl began to grin in happiness, Usopp repeatedly blinked at Luffy in disbelief.

"Just like that?"

Luffy smirked at him and nodded. "Yup. Just like that."

"Holy shit," whispered Usopp before shaking his head and throwing his hands to the air in a celebratory manner. "Oh yeah! Kaya! You did it!" He shouted as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her up and began to twirl her around as they laughed in happiness.

Luffy allowed them to have that moment as he turned towards the others. Sunny didn't seem to care one way or another as he continued to diligently do his exercises. Zoro just gave him an uncaring and lazy thumb up before he went back to trying to learn Soru. Nami just shook her head at him while giving him a fond smile that Luffy returned with a grin of his own before she went back to her own training.

Luffy then turned towards the still celebrating lovebirds and called out to them. "Oi! Listen up!" When they focused their attention back on him, Luffy spoke to them in a slightly serious tone that managed to convey what he wanted to get across with his following words. "As members of my crew, I won't be ordering you around much and you can do pretty much whatever you want as long as it doesn't go against what we stand for and causes dissent between us. The only thing that I require of you is that you are constantly training to become stronger. I will not accept weaklings and/or lazy people around that are liable to get themselves and others killed because of something they can actually control."

Both Kaya and Usopp nodded with serious expression on their faces.

Luffy gave a pleased grin when he saw that they understood his point. "Good. I know that Kaya is still uncapable of training right now because of the poisons Kuro has been giving her the past three years but I'm sure that will change soon enough now that he's no longer here to do so," he said and paid no mind to her slight flinch when he said Kuro's name. He knew that it was going to take some time for her to get over what happened yesterday after all. He gave her an encouraging smile. "So, to not waste your time, why don't you start expanding on your medical knowledge right away? That should give you something productive to do while you recover."

Kaya nodded her head and saluted him. "Yes, Captain!"

Usopp also saluted. "And what about me, sir?!"

Luffy snorted and raised an eyebrow as he smirked. "For now, I will train you physically in order to make you capable of performing a few techniques I will show you later. Since your marksmanship is so good naturally, I will teach you how to fight using guns at all ranges. We'll see after that."

Usopp saluted again. "Understood, sir! When do I start, sir?!"

"Right now," said Luffy before looking at his master gunner with a flat expression. "Oh, and Usopp?"

"Yes, sir?!"

"Stop with that 'sir' shit. It's fucking annoying."

"Yes, sir!" Usopp saluted again before realizing what he just said and faltering a bit. "Erm… hehe…"

Kaya giggled.

Luffy sighed before he chuckled. At least he was now one hundred percent sure that there was never going to be dull moment among the members of his crew. That was always a positive…

… right?

 **.o0O0o.**

With a dramatic flourish and proud expression on his face, Merry motioned behind him. "I present to you your ship! It's honestly one of my best works to date even if it was for a pirate crew…" he trailed off before his eyes narrowed as he scowled at the ones that stood in front of him on the beach. "…I still vehemently disapprove of you doing something so foolish and dangerous, Kaya-sama."

The blonde-haired girl merely smiled serenely at her butler. "I have already decided to take this path, Merry. Since I am no longer 'sick', I want to see the entire world now that I can. I know it's foolish but it's why I feel like it's the best thing for me right now. And as for the dangerous part, I will have the crew helping me gain enough strength to protect myself against any dangers we will face in the future."

Indeed. After Kuro's poison was flushed out of her system and she was no longer consuming it, Kaya looked significantly healthier. Her skin was no longer that pale and her hair had a noticeable luster that was starting to match Nami's. She was also starting to fill out more since she had started to eat more and physically train in the past ten days. It embarrassed and pleased Kaya that Usopp had obviously noticed and appreciated those positive physical changes.

Merry clicked his tongue before focusing his scowl on Usopp. "Just so you know, I blame you for this, Usopp-kun."

With a serious expression on his face, Usopp nodded his head without shame. "I accept all responsibility for the current circumstances but I regret nothing."

Merry's eyebrow began to twitch as an artery pulsed in the middle of his forehead. "Why… you…"

Kaya hid her giggling behind her hand.

Ignoring their byplay, Zoro whistled appreciatively as he looked at their 'new' ship. "I'm actually fucking impressed. Goat man over here might not look like it but he is actually the real deal. I wasn't expecting this."

Nami's eyes sparkled in wonder as she stared at the ship with the eyes of a navigator that knew they would be enjoying their time sailing with it. "I love it! It turned out one hundred times better than what I was hoping for!"

Even though he was enjoying the feeling of a happy Nami clinging to him, Luffy was completely focused on the sight before him as he laughed in delight and happiness. "Now this is exactly what I'm talking about! That is what I call a real ship!"

Sunny was just laying down lazily next to Luffy and Nina, who had thoroughly shocked Merry and Kaya when she had revealed herself to them, was slowly circling around the ship, clearly admiring her 'new charge' with, surprisingly enough, critical and appraising eyes.

The previously simple carrack with three masts now looked like a hybrid between a galleon and a warship, albeit considerably smaller than either of those types of sailing ships. With at least two times its previous length, significantly wider from starboard to port and 'taller' by more than three meters, the rigging of the ship still had three masts: the fore, the mizzen, and the main. Luffy noticed that the amount of canvas it carried was particularly high for only having three masts.

The fore and main masts were rigged with a topsail, a course and a topgallant while the mizzen had a topsail and a mizzen course. At the bow were the fore stay-sail and flying jib, anchored with the bowsprit and Luffy could see that both were going to be used for steering. The capstan, used to raise and lower the main sail was found on the main deck at the mizzen mast, which Luffy found very unusual since it was normally located at the foremast. Nami's boat, the one they used for going ashore, was going to put there as well.

At the aft of the ship beneath the helm was the captain's quarters, which Luffy could see was actually two 'floors' high and had potted land on the 'roof'. In front of the 'second floor' of the captain's quarters was the upper deck. The wheel was found here and there was also a belfry that contained a bell, which could be useful on counting the hours and keeping track of time during the day.

Merry explained that the crew's quarters were near the middle of the ship and that it consisted of a long hallway with ten rooms on each side of it and they coincided with the ten circular crystal windows that were fairly above the ones for the cannons. He told them that each room was fifteen feet square and counted with a twin XL size bed, a closet, a night stand and its own simple bathroom and bathtub. How Merry managed to pull that off was anyone's guess and when he said that he also managed to fit in a fully equipped kitchen, a dining room/bar and an infirmary in that floor as well, the lamb-themed man seemed pretty smug about it but refused to elaborate.

The upper gun deck, home to fourteen of the ship's cannons, was also part of the main deck but because of its width they didn't take that much space, which Zoro appreciated since the main deck was also their training area. There were also four swivel guns on the main deck which would be used for more close-quarters encounters. The lower gun deck, which was located right beneath the 'floor' of the crew's quarters, possessed eighteen cannons. The bow and stern of the ship also had two cannons each in order to not leave it at a disadvantage during a pursuit. Also, the stern had a 'window' above each canon which they were going to use to tie the rope Nina used to tow them.

The lowest part of the ship which was the one that was partially submerged was divided in three areas of different sizes according to Merry. The biggest one was going to function as the treasury, where they were going to put all their money and other precious things they got their hands on during their journey and apparently it was so big that their seventy-seven million beri barely took up space on it. The second largest area was just going to function as the storage room for all their miscellaneous supplies such as food, water, alcohol, reparations resources, etc. And the smallest room was actually going to be Sunny's, who hadn't been interested in the proceedings until that was mentioned. It was almost completely covered in soft rugs and pillows of varying sizes according to Merry, much to Sunny's visible excitement and approval.

On a side note, If it had been on their 'previous ship', Luffy doubted that the fifty million beri Kaya was going to bring with her would have fit inside the room they had been keeping their money. While Nami had been a bit miffed about Kaya 'only' bringing in with her little less than half of her actual wealth, she was still satisfied with the amount. It also helped that Nami understood that Kaya couldn't leave her 'territory' without money for Merry to manage and that the Black Cat Pirates had a bit more than ten million beri inside their ship. That ended up pushing their current wealth to one hundred and thirty-seven million beri.

Needless to say, Luffy had been enjoying Nami's extra happiness for quite some time now.

Back to the ship…

The main crow's nest was just beneath the highest point of the main mast and there was a secondary, smaller one on the foremast. Since Luffy had yet to decide on a jolly roger, the flags were white and blank completely matching the sails. The main color of the ship was a deep brown that actually matched Nina's scales. The frames of the windows for the cannons and the railings were a dark red and it had a few black colored accents here and there as well.

And finally, the figurehead of the ship was made up by sculptures of the three animals that were considered to be the 'rulers' of the environment they inhabited in East Blue: the Menean Lion (which looked like Sunny), ruler of the mainland, the Sea King (which greatly resembled Nina), ruler of the ocean and the Sennenryu, ruler of the sky. They slightly twisted around each other at the base but around midway that stopped with the Sennenryu on top with wings spread, the Sea King below and to the right with its sharp teeth in display and the Menean Lion below and to the left with its claws displayed threateningly. The three of them were shown to be roaring their fury and authority.

After seeing that he had two of the three as members of his crew, Luffy figured he might as well go ahead and go with it. If he was one hundred percent honest, it ended up looking way cooler than what he had visualized when he first got the idea.

After she finished admiring their new ship, Nami turned towards Merry with incredulous eyes. "Where you only going to charge us ten million beri for all this?!" Nami was far from knowledgeable of such things, but modifying their previous ship to the point it looked like it did now had to cost at least three times as much as Merry had been planning to charge them.

"Of course not," sniffed Merry in a clearly mock arrogant display. "While I was planning on working your ship to the best of my abilities since the beginning, that was before you prevented a horrible tragedy from befalling us and before I learned that Kaya-sama will be… joining you as well. I couldn't not give it ten times my best and deliver you my finest work to date. Using the ship of those bastard pirates also largely helped to make this possible. I can say with full confidence that this ship, with the amount of sails it has and its hydrodynamic design, will be one of the fastest ships to ever sail the four seas and the Grand Line!"

Luffy's grin was almost splitting his face in half. "I believe you, Merry! You blew all my expectations away! Other than paying you what this masterpiece is worth, I'm afraid I don't know how to properly show my appreciation."

Merry waved his words off before looking at him seriously. "Keeping Kaya-sama alive and well during your foolhardy future endeavors will be more than enough for me." He dutifully ignored the annoyed pout Kaya sent towards him for his 'demands'.

Luffy nodded without hesitation. "Of course." By the time he was done with her, Kaya was going to have at least mastery of three or four of the Rokushiki and Kenbunshoku/Busoshoku Haki plus whatever other skills she managed pick up on their journey. As a matter of fact, since those abilities could be achieved through training, Luffy was planning for them to be the 'basic' skills all members of his crew would strive to eventually achieve.

Let it be known that Monkey D. Garp might have or might have not screwed a bit with Luffy's definition of 'sensible expectations' when his future companions were involved.

"So… what are you going to name it, Captain?" Asked Usopp, breaking the slight lull in the conversation and he shifted nervously a bit when everyone focused their attention on him. "Erm, you know… even though this is essentially a new ship for all intent and purposes, it still used to have another name that you never bothered to change, right? I think it deserves a new name."

Nami seemed to consider his words before she nodded. "I agree. Besides, we already performed the denaming part of the ceremony when we got rid of everything tying the ship to Alvida and changed it so it wouldn't be recognized. We only have to perform the renaming part," she said as she tightened the hold she had around Luffy's arm. She knew that he quite liked it when she clung to him and if Nami was honest, she liked the feel of his muscular arm against her as well.

Luffy turned thoughtful for a moment before he smirked as he looked at all of them. "I believe I have the perfect name for our ship. We can do the renaming ceremony just before we leave."

Zoro crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "And when is that going to be? We've been here for two weeks. I'm sick of seeing the same shit for so long…" he said before pausing and turning towards Merry, Kaya and Usopp with his expression not changing at all. "… no offense."

"None taken."

Luffy looked around and smiled when he noticed that everyone shared Zoro's sentiment to a certain degree. "Everyone! Gather up your things and say your goodbyes in the case of Kaya and Usopp! We will be sailing away from the Gecko Islands within the hour!"

"Aye, aye! Captain!"

 **.o0O0o.**

Luffy stood on the forecastle deck of the ship, the bowsprit of the ship behind him, as he faced his crewmates while holding two bottles of their most expensive rum on his right hand and an empty glass on his left hand. Nami stood to his right and Usopp and Kaya on his left. Zoro stood slightly further away but directly in front of Luffy as he leaned his back against the foremast. They were all holding their empty glasses as well.

Sunny wasn't interested in the naming ceremony but he was present. He was sitting on his haunches next to the foremast with an 'even' expression on his face. Nina, however, was looking at them curiously as she had enough of her body out of the water that she reached more or less half the height of the mainmast. Luffy could tell she was patiently waiting for Nami to set the course so she could tow the ship to maximize their speed and travel efficiency.

"Everyone here has a dream," started saying Luffy as he locked eyes with everyone there. "I might not know exactly what Nami's dream is but what little I know about it is enough to tell me that she wants to shake things up and oppose something or someone that doesn't care about other people being fucked over and getting shit on."

At those words, despite Luffy smiling softly and patiently at her, Nami couldn't help but guiltily look away. She had told Luffy two weeks ago to give her a few days to think about telling him her troubles but she had yet to even mention the subject to him after their heart-to-heart. Hearing him basically say that he was still waiting and willing to wait more for her to tell him was almost like a physical blow to Nami.

' _Even though what I immediately want is to free Cocoyashi from Arlong's control, my true dream is to one day map the entire world. Maybe…'_ she thought to herself before her expression hardened as she nodded resolutely to herself. _'Today. I will tell him today. I will believe in him.'_ With everything that Luffy has done for her since they met each other, she felt that it was incredibly unfair and inconsiderate on her part to be wasting his time like this.

Luffy's smile widened as he saw that. He could more or less tell what she was thinking but he decided to not comment on it. He turned towards Zoro and his smile morphed into a grin. "Our First Mate here wants to become the world's greatest swordsman. The man he wants to surpass is on the level of a Yonko and is affiliated with the Marines and the World Government. When Zoro proves himself to be better than him, everyone is going to lose their heads when the new 'Greatest Swordsman in the World' is a full-on pirate."

Zoro straightened up noticeably and he looked at Luffy with serious intensity. He had not missed how his Captain worded his sentence. He'd said 'when' not 'if'. Luffy truly believed that Zoro accomplishing his dream was just a matter of time. The green haired First Mate exchanged a nod with his Captain. He was going to make sure to live up to Luffy's believe and confidence in him. Other than his complete loyalty towards him, that was the least Zoro could do in exchange.

' _I will not embarrass you, Captain!'_ Thought Zoro determinately as he tightly grasped the handle of Wado Ichimonji.

Grin still in place, he turned towards Usopp. "You want to be a notorious pirate and show your father your thoughts on his abandonment on you and your mother. Pirates are the sworn enemies of the Marines, the military force of the World Government. Your father is an official within the crew of one of the Yonko so you will have to become quite strong if you even want him to feel the beat down you want to give him and the World Government doesn't exactly like strong people outside of their control, if you catch my drift."

Usopp puffed up his chest slightly and crossed his arms over it. After two weeks of training under Luffy, he had started to become visibly more muscular and defined. He had also taken to use two flintlock pistols, which were held up by his sash, and there was a flintlock rifle diagonally strapped to his back. Instead of being intimidated by Luffy's words, Usopp was instead motivated to keep moving forward. After Luffy asked him to become his master gunner in recognition of his abilities and his part in thwarting Kuro's plot, Usopp had started to realize what he was actually worth and his potential.

' _And Kaya is here with me. Even if I still have some major doubts and fears, I can't allow myself to let her see them. For her, I will be the Bravest Warrior of the Sea!'_ Thought Usopp fiercely as he glanced at the blonde girl.

Luffy then focused his attention on Kaya. "You said that you wanted to see all the wonders the world had to offer, that you wanted prevent others from suffering the same fate you almost did and that you want to become an infallible doctor. As a member of my crew, I can promise that the first one is going to happen by default. The latter depends entirely on you but if you put the same dedication to your studies that you do to training, I won't be surprised if you achieve it. The second one… the most cowardly and greediest people I know of are the World Nobles. As long as they are in power, innocent people will suffer and die. They won't take too kindly to you opposing and fighting against them."

Kaya smiled gently but determinately at her captain. In the past two weeks, the changes she had gown through were noticeable after the effects of the potion wore off and she started to eat more and exercise intensively. Her simple shirt, jean shorts and sandals showed off that fact. Kaya also had a knife strapped to each thigh since they were her weapon of choice. While she had yet to start learning how to use them, Zoro had suggested she start to walk around with them so she could 'familiarize' herself with their presence and weight.

' _I will do my best to not be a burden to you, Captain. I also promise to not be a burden to you, Usopp-kun. I will walk the same path as you as I strive to accomplish my goals and dreams,'_ she thought as she tightened her fists and glanced towards Usopp. She blushed a bit when she noticed that he too was glancing at her from time to time. She thought that his own blush when he noticed that she noticed was cute.

Luffy's grin widened even more. "Me? I want to be the Pirate King. The freest man in the world. I want to do whatever I want, whenever I want and wherever I want. To do that… I have to not only find One Piece, but also become the strongest and most dangerous man in the world," he said and his facial expression became decidedly savage as he said his next words. "When the so called 'powers that be' realize just what I am capable of, they will stop at nothing to try and kill me. They will certainly try but they won't live to regret it when they don't succeed."

Everyone looked at Luffy with varying degrees of admiration after they heard his words. They didn't know what drove him, but his sheer conviction and his actions so far have proved that he wasn't just all talk. There was something about Luffy that just made them believe that he accomplishing his dreams was just a matter of time. They knew that the path he was walking on was a dangerous one, a path that will be as bloody as it will be righteous. Luffy's True Justice (as he himself called it) and the current state of their world as they clashed will make sure of that. One of them would have to eventually give in and something told them that it won't be Luffy.

And they wouldn't have it any other way.

"With that being said…" Luffy trailed off as he uncorked one of the bottles containing their most expensive rum. "Everywhere we go, no matter what we do, we are going to be causing and endless amount of chaos and change. I feel like our ship, since she's going to be the one taking us to all those places, should reflect that. Which is why…" Luffy trailed off as he turned his hand holding the rum bottles upside down and he began to let the expensive content spill on the wood of the bow of the ship. "… I shall name her _The Tempest._ Long may she sail the seas!"

"Long may she sail the seas!" The others declared loudly and approvingly as they raised their empty cups to the air with grins on their faces, even Zoro.

Seemingly capable of reading the mood perfectly, Nina and Sunny gave their own excited roars.

After that, a short celebration ensued as they drank the other bottle of rum while cheering. While that was happening, Luffy thought that he was only lacking a few other members for his crew and deciding on a jolly roger before he could finally consider himself an actual pirate. He still needed a cook at least before heading to the Grand Line after all. The jolly roger couldn't wait too much longer either.

After the 'festivities' were done for, Kaya and Usopp to the lower levels of _The Tempest_ to do their own thing. Apparently, Kaya wanted to organize and personalize her room and she convinced Usopp (not that it was hard for her) to let him do the same thing for his. The master gunner of the crew was going to keep checking on all the ballistic related loot they got from the Black Cat Pirates, which is how where he found his second flintlock pistol and flintlock rifle. No one commented on them choosing rooms directly next to each other.

Sunny followed them down so he could see his own room.

Zoro simply said that he was going to train, then he was going to see if the Black Cat Pirates had at least good taste in alcohol before going to sleep. Those were the things he liked to do the most after all and with Luffy not minding what anyone did as long as he saw they were diligently training and growing stronger, which Zoro was always going to do anyways, meant that the green haired First Mate could indulge as much as he wanted.

Luffy and Nami walked across the main deck, and pass the proper hammock Luffy had commissioned which was tied using the mainmast and a wooden pole that was a few feet away from it, and used one of the two sets of stairs that led up to the upper deck so they could stand in front of the helm. Nami pulled out her compass and map as Nina looked at them patiently, clearly waiting for them to set the course so she could do her job.

When she didn't ask him for their next destination, Luffy looked at her curiously. "So… where are we going?"

Nami paused for a moment before she continued what she was doing and answered her question with a tight voice. "Northwest."

Luffy chuckled a bit. "I think you can a bit more specific, Nami."

Nami turned towards him with a serious but conflicted expression on her face. "We are going to the Conomi Islands."

Luffy raised an eyebrow at her. "Not that I mind since I had been planning to go there before heading to the Grand Line, but any particular reason why are we heading towards the turf of Arlong 'the Saw'?"

Nami's eyes widened at first when she heard his words but she regained her previous expression back quickly when she recalled him telling her about his desire to become the 'top dog' on East Blue before heading towards the Grand Line. After meeting him and getting to know him, Nami didn't consider the fact that he knew about Arlong and was planning to eventually… confront him… surprising.

She just looked away from him. "I grew up in Cocoyashi Village."

Luffy's eyes widened before they narrowed. His teeth began to grind against each other and his hands balled into fists, his knuckles cracking. "Nami… please don't tell me…"

She nodded minutely without looking at him. "Let me set the course and get us moving and I'll tell you… I'll tell you everything."

Luffy simply nodded in a noticeably strained manner.

Refusing to look at him yet but still feeling his intense eyes on her, Nami went back to work on setting the course. After she was done making calculations, she quietly requested Luffy to tie the rope around Nina before giving the Sea King her instructions. Nina nodded her understanding and submerged the moment Luffy was done tying the rope around her and receiving instructions from the orangette.

After _The Tempest_ was moved under Nina's power to face the direction they were heading towards, Nami told Luffy to display all the sails and with a quick application of Soru Luffy did so before she could blink three times. The wind was on their favor and the ship lurched forward as it began to move at speeds that neither Luffy nor Nami thought possible to reach while sailing. To make it even more ridiculous, Nina's towing increased their velocity by a significant margin.

It was enough to make them momentarily put aside the elephant in the proverbial room.

"Oh wow! We are at least moving twice as fast as before! I don't think even Merry-san expected this!" Nami exclaimed in wonder and awe and her expression matching those emotions. She had made her calculations using their previous maximum speed, which resulted in the month or so that she had calculated would take them to reach the Conomi Islands had been reduced to around two weeks at the very least.

Luffy nodded in agreement as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Indeed. As the future Pirate King, I wouldn't settle for less," he said as he turned back and watched as the island in which Syrup Village was located steadily decreased in size the further they got away. After a short moment, however, he sobered up and turned towards his navigator with an extremely serious expression on his face. "Nami…"

Nami took a deep breath as she too became serious. "Alright. Let's go to your quarters. I… I don't want the others to know… at least, not yet," she almost pleaded him as her eyes trembled a bit.

Luffy simply approached her, took her hand gently in his and led her down the stairs towards the main deck where the entrance to the Captain's quarters was located. They slipped inside and the straw-hat wearing teen took his first look at the place he would be sleeping in for quite some time. The walls and the roof were painted red while the floor kept the natural brown color of the wood it was made of.

At the back of the room, opposite from where the entrance was, there was a wide bow type window that allowed him an unrestricted look of the still fading Gecko Islands. There was a massive and quite fancy-looking four poster bed that was bigger than King size pressed against left wall. There were two night stands next to the bed. In front of the bed was a circular wooden table big enough to require six chairs around it and there was still a fair amount of space between them. In front of that table was a desk with its own cushioned chair pressed against the wall opposite to where the bed was.

Luffy noticed that to his left was a hanger and next to it was quite the big wardrobe. To his right was a full body length mirror and to the right of the desk was a wooden door that Luffy suspected led to his private bathroom. A candlelight on each corner of the room kept it relatively lit up.

Luffy pulled Nami into the room and closed the door quietly behind him. He then released his hold on her hand and moved to sit at the edge of the bed. The captain gave his navigator an expectant and serious look as he lightly patted the space next to him.

Almost meekly, Nami slowly walked forward and gingerly sat next to him. While she noticed and relished on the comfortableness of the bed and how her leg was slightly touching Luffy's, Nami didn't allow herself to be distracted as she began to speak after a few minutes of collecting her thoughts under the serious, patient but expectant gaze of Luffy. At some point he had even taken her right hand in his bigger left one and Nami drew strength and courage from the simple, yet meaningful, gesture of support and affection.

"I was born in the Oykot Kingdom. I never knew my real parents. When I was barely one year old, they were likely killed by the pirates that attacked my birthplace," she said and while Luffy noticed her bitterness and anger when she said the word 'pirates', he noticed that it was directed to those pirates in specific whomever they were. "I don't know how but I survived and I was found by my older, adoptive sister Nojiko. The two of us then were found by our adoptive mother Bell-mere, a marine who had been sent to fight off the pirates that had invaded Oykot Kingdom. As far as I know, the three of us were the only survivors that day."

Luffy was silent as he continued to look at her. Nami took a shuddering breath before she continued with her story. "After saving us, Bell-mere adopted Nojiko and I. We became a family. Even though she only had her tangerine grove as a form of income, she did her best to make sure my sister and I had clothes to wear and food to eat every day. I… I… I never appreciated all the sacrifices she made for Nojiko and I until it was too late," she said thickly as tears began to slowly fall from her eyes.

Luffy quickly replaced his left hand holding her right one with his right hand so he could wrap his left arm around her shoulders comfortingly. Tightening her hold around his hand with her own, Nami didn't hesitate to accept his hug and pressed herself against him as she continued to cry. "One day… eight years ago… over something stupid I hurt her feelings… and ran away from our home... She sent Nojiko after me… That was the same day Arlong arrived to Cocoyashi…"

Luffy just continued to hold her tightly as she continued her story. "That fucking bastard…" She growled hatefully through her tears. "…after subjugating the village with the 'superiority' of fishmen… Arlong imposed a law… one hundred thousand beri per adult… fifty thousand beri per child… she could have saved herself by denying the existence of Nojiko and I… she had only saved one hundred thousand beri… it would have been enough for her… but she would never deny being our mother… and used all her savings to pay for us… Arlong just mocked her love for us… and… and executed her in front of us… _to set a fucking example!'_ She screamed at the end with pain, sorrow, regret, guilt, self-hatred and a myriad of other negative emotions that Luffy almost physically felt them.

As her crying intensified, Luffy pulled Nami into his lap and wrapped his arms fiercely around her as he pressed his face into the crown of her head. Nami returned his hug back just as tightly and she managed to calm down enough to continue with her story. "I was always fascinated with navigation and cartography… he found the maps I drew of the Conomi Islands… and decided he liked them… he kidnapped me and forced me to draw maps for him… the villagers ended up hating me for it… and I ended up hating what I used to love… along with my dream to draw a map of the entire world…"

Luffy pulled back a bit so he could look down at her with a dark expression on his face. "Nami… did they ever…" he trailed off and his voice was a deep, rumbling growl that originated from deep within his chest. _'Every single one of them is already dead but if they laid one finger on MY Nami…'_ It was taking every ounce of the control he had over his powers to not let them respond to the rage he was feeling.

Nami shuddered, both at what he just suggested and the growling tone of his voice. It reminded her of an incoming thunderstorm. She looked up at him and shook her head while maintaining eye contact with him. "No… even though they didn't shy away from… 'reminding me of my place'… they are way too xenophobic against humans to even consider doing that… everyone was relieved when we realized that… it was a silver lining to everything else that was our fucked-up situation…"

Luffy gave a quite sigh of relief. If Nami had been raped even once, he would have flown towards Cocoyashi and show them how superior he though those bastard fishmen were. He was still planning to do so either way but their punishment no longer was going to include electrical castration. _'I'll break all their bones and let them die slow, agonizing deaths. It's the least they deserve for years of suffering they have caused. I will have to think of something special for Arlong…'_

"However…" Nami unknowingly pulled Luffy away from his dark thoughts when she spoke and she looked away from him as she rolled up the short left sleeve of her shirt. Arlong's symbol was tattooed on her left shoulder. "… I can't help but feel violated with this thing on me… it's a constant reminder… He… he struck a deal with me… a hundred million beri… he would sell Cocoyashi to me for that amount… and free me from his services… I have been doing everything short of prostituting myself to gather that amount…" she then turned towards him again and smiled bitterly while tears still trailed down her face. "… and that's my story…"

Luffy felt his anger spike at the thought of Nami selling her body for money. He quickly shook it off and looked directly into Nami's eyes. "We both know that he is full of shit."

Nami's tears intensified as she shakily nodded in agreement. She was good with money. Currently, the inhabitants of Cocoyashi Village had twenty-seven adults and twelve children. At one hundred thousand beri per adult and fifty hundred beri per child per month, Arlong could make more than what their deal entailed in three years. She always subconsciously knew that he was never going to sell her village back to her nor grant her their freedom.

As much as she used to deny it, she had never truly given up on hope nor had wanted to do so. It was the reason why she had put her life at risk again and again to gather whatever sum of money she could get her hands on instead of just rotting away drawing maps for Arlong in the past eight years. Nami could only shift herself until he she was straddling him which made it easier for her to hide her despair by pressing her head into his upper chest.

"Which is why you are not going to give him a single beri, Nami."

When she heard his words, she shakily pulled back to stare into his intense dark gray eyes in confusion. "What are you…"

"That money belongs to you, Nami. He doesn't have any right to it. Just like Cocoyashi Village is yours and he doesn't have a right to it either," said Luffy and he smiled at her fiercely when her eyes widened in shock at his words. "I'm going to make him regret the suffering he put you, your sister and your people through. I going to make him regret making you… my navigator… MY Nami… cry. And he is going to die knowing that it was all his own damned fucking fault. I promise you, Nami."

Tears of relief and hope replaced her previous ones of pain and despair when she heard Luffy's promise. She believed him. How could she not, when she had seen him deal with two of the top dogs of East Blue without even trying? It was because of this that Nami's next action were understandable. With a happy cry/laugh, Nami wrapped her arms around Luffy's neck and pulled his face close to her so she could kiss him. She poured all her feelings and all the attraction she had for him into it.

Luffy's eyes momentarily widened in surprise at her actions but his eyes closed as he began to enjoy the pleasant sensation. Even though it was slightly salty because of her tears, the emotions he could feel her pouring into the kiss just made Luffy tighten his own arms around her. The feel of her straddling him and her bountiful, perky chest pressing against his firm, muscular one also made it even more enjoyable.

Nami eventually had to breath but she only separated their lips as she kept her eyes closed while slightly panting with a flushed face that was equal parts because of her early crying and what he just did now. She gently pressed her forehead against Luffy, whose excitement she could feel along with his own panting breaths against the lower part of her face. Knowing that she had this kind of effect on him sent a thrill of pleasure through her entire body.

"Thank you… Luffy," she told him meaningfully as she pressed herself further against him.

He also wrapped his own arms more tightly around her. "Any time and anything for you… Nami."

And they went back to kissing each other.

 **.o0O0o.**

After assuring Kaya that she could do whatever she wanted to his room, which had earned him an affectionate, chaste and shy kiss on his cheek, Usopp went down to the lower gun deck. Since he was the master gunner of the ship, this level along with the upper gun deck were going to be ones he would be in charge off. He had already checked the cannons of the upper gun deck so he was now going to take a look at the ones here.

' _It's going to take a while to get used to fire these cannons in an effective manner. Learning Soru will help but with thirty-six cannons in total I will still need some help in the future,'_ thought Usopp as he looked around the room. It was as wide as the main deck and there were nine cannons on each side and two cannons on each end. Since it was going to be the place he was going to spend the most time at, the room also had a few bullseyes at different parts of the room so he could practice his marksmanship and 'Gun Fu' by shooting at them from every angle possible.

Usopp was also pretty good at engineering so he also had requested for a section of this room to function as his workshop. Usopp knew that his biggest strength will always be his ability as a marksman, which meant that the better and stronger the guns he used were, the stronger he would be. Usopp had a lot of ideas on how to make the guns he owned more effective and he even had a few theories on developing new types of guns. Thankfully, he had managed to procure most the stuff he needed to get started in the past two weeks so he was set on that front for now.

' _The first thing I need to tackle is the reloading issue. The 'magazine' idea shows promise but I will have to find a way to apply it without compromising the structure and flintlock mechanisms of the pistols and rifle but with a few modifications I think I can pull it off,'_ thought Usopp as he walked towards the portion of the room that held all their ballistics related loot and equipment. Usopp knew that this was the stuff that used to belong to the Buggy Pirates and Black Cat Pirates. He also put his own stuff there as well.

"Well! Time to do some inventory," he said with a determined grin before he began to work on that. Since he was also going to manage his own logistic as well, he needed to keep track of the amount of everything he had so he could know exactly when he would need to restock.

It was as he was emptying one of the barrels in which Nami had told him she had dumped some of the stuff she had 'liberated' from Buggy that turned out to no have any monetary value that Usopp found a folded in piece of paper with a few words scribbled in one of the sides. According to Nami herself, she had just shoved everything she got her hands into her bags. Usopp was also thankful that along with his treasure Buggy had put everything else he had on the tent he had erected on the docks when he had been looting Orange Town and that Luffy, Zoro and Nami had also taken it with them.

Apparently, those red cannonballs with Buggy's symbols painted on them had enough explosive power to completely obliterate a normal ship. At the moment they only had a full barrel's worth of them which meant that their use was going to be limited. It was truly a shame that he didn't know how to make them himse-

"Buggy's Flashy Explosive Formula…" he read and trailed off as the meaning of the words sank in. With eyes wide in excitement, Usopp hurriedly unfolded the paper and began to read its contents in a manner that resembled a thirsty man in the desert finding fresh water for the first time in days. Slowly, a massive grin that was equal parts elation and evilness appeared on Usopp's face. "Mwahahahahah!"

When she heard maniacal laughter coming from the level below, Kaya momentarily stopped arranging the covers of her bed. She smiled fondly when she identified her… more-than-friend-but-not-quite-romantic-partner-yet being the one laughing. "I'm glad Usopp-kun is having fun. He sounds so happy!" She exclaimed excitedly before she began to hum a happy tune as she went back to what had been doing.

 **.o0O0o.**

It was a few days after Luffy and co left that Alvida arrived to the Gecko Islands. Even though she had sailed the same distance from the Orange Islands as her target, she lacked not only Nami's navigational skills but also a Sea King to tow her dhoni, which sailed at a significantly lower speed than full fledged ship. That was why she was arriving here only now.

Alvida made sure that her boat won't be pulled back into the sea before she turned towards what she knew to be Syrup Village. She had a loving expression on her face as she began to make her way towards the modest settlement. "I'm sure Luffy-sama spent a significant amount of time here! I can feel it! I just need to find someone who knows in which direction he went so I can finally reunite with him!" She declared fervently.

When she reached the village, Alvida learned about what Luffy and the others did here. Learning that Luffy saved all this people from Kuro of a Hundred Plans and his Black Cat Pirates only resulted in in Alvida's love and admiration for him growing even more. His apparent brutality when he had dealt with them had Alvida getting more than a little hot under the collar and she knew that her session of… self-gratification… would be particularly intense that night as she imagined Luffy slaughtering dozens of men with a savage grin on his handsome face.

When she learned from a lamb-themed man that he had sailed in the northwest direction, Alvida finally saw a pattern that would allow her to more or less predict where Luffy would be going next.

' _Luffy-sama is going for all the big shots of East Blue after all! He would've gone after 'Foul Play' Krieg if he hadn't taken his fleet to try his luck against the Grand Line not too long ago. Since he is heading northwest that means he is now going after Arlong the Saw. It might be possible he runs into El Drago as well,'_ she thought to herself as she sailed away from the Gecko Islands after using her beauty to restock her supplies for free. She couldn't waste any time after all. A man like her Luffy-sama would inevitable head into the Grand Line so she needed to reach him before that happened.

In the mean time, to make sure he would accept her, Alvida decided she would continue to increase her physical capabilities and her mastery with her Devil Fruitabilities. She knew that her Luffy-sama was a man that respected strength and that he would only allow those that he deemed strong to be by his side. Since that was what Alvida wanted the most, she'll become the strongest she could be to be worthy of her Luffy-sama.

 **.o0O0o.**

Luffy had a pleased and proud grin on his face as he watched Nami using Soru to perform short burst of speeds successfully across the main deck of _The Tempest._ Instead of taking her six weeks to become ready to start learning the most fundamental Rokushiki technique, it had taken her that amount to actually learn it.

Nami stopped using Soru and she stood right in front of Luffy with a grin of her own and she put her hands on her shapely waist and cocked it to the side. "So…" she trailed off, looking up at him expectantly.

He gave her a thumb up. "You finally learned how to do it, Nami! And it only took you one day after Sunny!" He praised her and ignored her twitching eyebrow at the reminder that the 'oversized house-cat' had managed to learn the technique before her despite starting training on it at a significant later time than her. "You still have to master it though but that will come with more training an experience."

Nami gave a small sigh. "And until that happens, I won't be able to learn Geppo and later Rankyaku, I know," she said wryly before he could say it himself. She smirked at his petulant pout because of her interruption. Not commenting on it, she went for her next question. "What am I going to work on next then?"

Luffy stopped pouting at that and he rubbed his chin in a considering fashion. "Other than daily spars against me so you can get used to using Soru in combat, I believe you should now focus on Kami-e. Since you finally learned Soru, it shouldn't take you too long to get that one too."

Nami didn't bat an eyelash at the thought of fighting him. She just groaned as she adopted a mock wincing expression as she began to tenderly rub her arms. "Am I back to dodging pebbles?" She asked him in a whining voice full of dread before she pointed towards were Zoro was. "Why isn't he doing it as well then? He's just been trying to master Soru for the past three weeks!"

The green haired First Mate had a serious expression on his face as wielded his three swords while using Soru to move across 'his' side of the main deck. Luffy wouldn't be surprised if Zoro managed to master Soru in the next few days. He was already going through his katas while enhanced during long periods of time. Zoro had claimed that he still was forced to end the technique but that he could feel he was extremely close to achieving mastery.

"That's because Zoro doesn't want to learn it and Kami-e doesn't really go well with his own style of fighting," explained Luffy with a shrug. Even though he thought it wouldn't hurt Zoro to learn the Rokushiki dodging technique, Luffy was not going to force him to do so. Zoro knew what he was doing after all. Nami was a different story though. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Speaking of fighting styles… have you finally decided with which kind of weapon you will replace your staff?"

Nami smirked and nodded her head in the affirmative. "Yep! After considering all the weapons you told me about, I think the best one would be a halberd since it can be used for both piercing and slashing attacks. If I apply the style I use when wielding my staff, those types of attacks would be the ones I use the most."

Luffy blinked before nodding thoughtfully. "Hm, I guess that's true. We'll have to buy you one the moment we come across a decent enough armory then."

"Oh," Nami smirked saucily at him. "Don't worry about that. Usopp is making me a… personalized one."

Luffy got a bit excited at the sight of that smile on Nami's face but he managed to control himself as he focused on her words. "A personalized one? What do you mean by that?"

Nami blinked mischievously at him. "Let's just say I will be doing more than cutting and piercing with it."

Luffy blinked at her a few times before shrugging his shoulders. "Okay then."

Nami smiled up at him before she removed the distance between them and put her hands on his shoulders. Pushing herself up on her tip toes, Nami gave Luffy a quick peck on the lips. With a light blush, she pulled back and giggled at his silly grin. "I'll take a break of training for now to check on the course. I know we have Nina but we never can't be too careful, you know?"

"Sure," said Luffy before he leaned down and gave her his own peck on the lips.

With one last smile, Nami began walked away from him and she made sure to put the tiniest bit of extra sway to her hips as she did so. She could feel his smoldering gaze on her and it only made Nami smirk in satisfaction. _'Go ahead, Luffy! Get as excited as you can! All the better for me when you finally crack!'_ It frustrated Nami that despite her obvious willingness to go all the way with him, Luffy had never insisted on going beyond making out, dry humping and heavy petting.

Sure, it's only been a week since they got 'together' and they were already doing more than what most romantic partners would be doing at this point, but she just couldn't help herself. There was just something about Luffy that had her incredibly turned on whenever she thought about the more physical aspect of their 'new' relationship. Nami huffed a bit in annoyance. _'You clearly have the willingness to kill and take what you want of a real pirate. Why can't you be like one on this as well?'_ She lamented to herself as she picked up her map of East Blue and her compass.

After a few moments of looking at it, her eyes gleamed in interest as she realized something. "Hmm… we are sailing the waters in which the Gold Island is supposed to be according to the rumors and legend. One third of the world's treasures... isn't there supposed to be a map detailing where Woonan hid his treasure?"

After thoroughly enjoying the sight of Nami walking away from him, Luffy went to see how Usopp and Kaya were doing. Since they were closer to each other's level in regards to overall physical capabilities, they decided to train together. The two of them actually motivated each other to go beyond what they normally would and that resulted in better results for both so Luffy 'allowed' them to continue training together.

As he watched them go through some basic hand-to-hand combat kata for Kaya and his Gun Fu katas for Usopp while wearing weights, Luffy inspected both their bodies with a critical eye. Despite her obvious improvements and surprising growth rate, Luffy knew that Kaya won't be ready to start learning the Rokushiki for a few months at the least. Usopp's own growth rate was superior to Kaya's and he won't be ready to learn Soru for at least two months. Luffy didn't really care how long it took them as long as he saw they were working hard and the two of them most certainly were.

While it had taken him less than a month of specialized training when he was fourteen to become ready to learn the Rokushiki and then more than a full year to learn and master all the techniques, Luffy knew that it was simply unfair to expect from others the same expected of himself. Luffy was well aware that his own growth rate was absurdly abnormal even compared to Zoro's, who was the one on his crew that was closest to him in that aspect.

"Ah! Captain! How can we help you?"

Luffy blinked at the polite and out-of-breath voice pulling him out of his thoughts and saw that both Kaya and Usopp were looking at him with curious expression on their faces. He waved Kaya's question off with a grin and a dismissive hand motion. "It's nothing you two! I was just watching you train and thinking about your progress. You guys keep at it. In no time I won't be embarrassed to admit you are members of my crew," he said with a teasing voice at the end.

Usopp dramatically grasped his chest as he fell to the ground with a pained gasp. "Please… such harsh words… my self-esteem can only take so much."

Kaya just giggled at Usopp's over-the-top act before looking at her captain with a determined expression and saluting. "Of course, Captain Luffy! Usopp-kun and I will work our hardest to make sure to not embarrass you in the future!"

"I know you will," said Luffy with a chuckle before smirking at her. "I think you are ready to start learning how to use your knives. I'll talk to Zoro and if he can spare an hour or two every day from his oh so busy schedule to give you some basic lessons until you can develop your style further on your own."

Kaya simply nodded at him.

Usopp shot up to his feet and looked at Luffy with an expectant and eager expression on his face. "And what about me, Luffy?"

Luffy laughed at his enthusiasm and sudden change of emotions. Usopp never failed to make Luffy laugh with his antics. "I know you always hit your target, Usopp. I've seen the bullseyes inside the gun deck," he said and smirked when Usopp puffed up his chest and smugly rubbed in between his long nose and upper lip. "With that being said, you only need to get stronger physically and more skilled at Gun Fu for now. You will eventually reach the level at which you can learn Soru, Geppo, Kami-e and Tekkai."

"I shall keep proving myself, sir!" Declared Usopp with a salute followed by a cheesy thumb up that had Kaya giggling fondly and amusedly at him. Usopp had already decided Gun Fu would be his 'basic' style of fighting going forward and he will become better at it as he gained strength, experienced and better guns and weapons. And the reason why Usopp decided to learn those four Rokushiki techniques were because Soru and Geppo would afford him the mobility and maneuverability he would need as a gunslinger and Kami-e and Tekkai would give him the best chances to evade and block the attacks he couldn't counter.

Luffy nodded at them before he left them to their training once again. He glanced towards where Sunny was and he saw that the menean lion was diligently working on mastering Soru. Luffy had decided Sunny would then learn Geppo and Tekkai. Afterwards it would be Rankyaku. Luffy still doubted Sunny could learn Kami-e since he wasn't human or humanoid, but he was sure Sunny could learn Shigan using his fangs somehow. There was still some time before they had to cross that bridge so Luffy still wasn't exactly worried about it.

He turned towards where Zoro was and smirked as his right hand wrapped around the handle of his sabre. A quick application of Soru and he disappeared in a flicker of movement…

… only for the sound of metal clashing against metal to resound through the entire ship as Luffy's sabre met the blade of one of Zoro's unnamed sword. Luffy grinned at his First Mate in challenge as he pushed forward. "Care for a spar?"

Zoro grinned back at him around the handle of Wado Ichimonji as he pushed back against Luffy. "You know I'm always up for it, Captain!"

What ensued next was a high-speed dance of clashing blades across the unoccupied parts of the main deck. Like it was the norm between them, Zoro was clearly more skilled than Luffy with a sword but Luffy surpassed Zoro in both speed and strength by such a wide margin that he could still keep up with Zoro in a purely swordsmen duel. However, with Zoro knowing Soru now, Luffy had to put significantly more effort into it than before, which pleased him immensely.

Kaya was only capable of hearing the sharp clangs generated by their bladed weapons. Usopp, thanks to his overdeveloped eyesight, was capable of making out their blurred forms. Nami was capable of barely following their movements when she began to watch the spar. She leaned against the railing of the upper deck that faced the main deck when she was finished checking and adjusting the course. She was only seeing the blurred forms of their bodies and weapons as they continued to fight.

After a few minutes, Zoro suddenly appeared next to the main mast panting harshly, covered in sweat and a few cuts here and there as his legs trembled slightly underneath him. "Dammit! I still can't… keep up with the strain… it causes…" he said between pants but there was a grin on his face as he slowly recovered his breath.

Luffy, who had appeared in front of him, was only covered in a bit of sweat as he returned Zoro's grin with one of his own. "Keep up what you've been doing so far and you'll master it before you know it," assured Luffy as he sheathed his sabre after flicking off the little bit of Zoro's blood that covered it because of the slight cuts he had given him during their spar.

Zoro inclined his head at his captain. "Thanks. I'll keep working on it," he said before he looked at Luffy in a challengingly manner. "Before you know it, I will be showing you what a true swordsman can do at your own level, Captain. Maybe you'll finally learn a thing or two from me."

Luffy smirked. "I look forward to it."

Seeing that they were done with their spar, Nami came down to the main deck and told Luffy that she was ready to continue training and that they were set to arrive to their destination in about a week or so if there weren't any complications. Luffy had told everyone they were heading to the Conomi Islands so he could challenge Arlong and prove that he was the top dog on East Blue. Since the true reason was Nami's story to tell, he had claimed that to be the reason why they were headed there. Since he was the captain, no one questioned him, though Luffy was sure that Zoro could tell there was something more to it. His First Mate was more perceptive and intelligent than what he appeared and let on after all.

For the rest of the morning, Luffy trained with Nami and Sunny and that meant that he was throwing pebbles at them with enough strength to bruise their bodies. While this was done so Nami could learn Kami-e by attempting to dodge the rocky projectiles, getting hit by them would also result in her toughening up the point she would learn Tekkai. Sunny, however, was only withstanding getting hit by the pebbles since he was not trying to learn Kami-e.

After Nami and Sunny went back to work on mastering Soru, Luffy performed his own training in Kenbunshoku Haki and Haoshoku Haki for the next few hours. He knew that he needed to train Busoshoku Haki as well but he didn't want to reveal Haki to his crew yet. Since Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku were within the abilities he wanted them to learn in the future, Luffy didn't want to put more pressure on their backs until he felt they could know about it without being overwhelmed by his expectations.

Eventually, noon arrived and with it lunch time. It was while they were gathered around one of the tables of the kitchen/bar that Merry had somehow managed to put inside _The Tempest,_ while they were eating quite the decent lunch prepared by Nami, Kaya and Usopp, the latter two having turned out to be capable of cooking, that the orangette pointed out where they were.

"Did you guys know that we are currently sailing the waters on which Gold Island is supposed to be?" She asked before putting a piece of fried chicken into her mouth.

Usopp swallowed his mouthful of mashed potatoes and looked at her in interest. "Isn't that the place Woonan, the man known as 'The Great Gold Pirate', who had a bounty of sixty million beri, hid all the gold he stole throughout his lifetime?"

"Yep!" Chirped Nami as she nodded at him.

Luffy smirked as he pointed at him with his half-eaten chicken drumstick. "El Drago is also supposed to sail these waters as well. He's rumored to have been looking for Woonan's treasure for years because of his obsession with gold. He has a bounty of fourteen million beri. And…" he trailed off as he turned towards Zoro with a smirk. "… His First Mate is a swordsman named Golass, who has a bounty of eight million beri. If we run into them, he might give you an actual challenge outside of myself, eh?"

Zoro drank from his mug of ale before returning Luffy's smirk. "Let's hope that comes to pass, Captain. I've been meaning to test myself against a proper swordsman ever since I joined your crew, you know?"

Luffy's eyebrow twitched a bit. "Oi… what's that supposed to mean? Are you insulting my skills, Zoro?"

The green haired First Mate uncaringly shrugged his shoulders as he bit into his chicken wing. "If you feel like the shoe fits…"

As Captain and First Mate began to bicker, Kaya giggled in amusement as she watched while continuing to enjoy the food she helped prefer. Usopp was made sure the bickering extended on as he made a few stray commentaries here and there to edge Luffy and Zoro on while eagerly eating his lunch. Nami just watched on with fond exasperation before she decided to do her best to ignore the childish banter and focus on her meal.

It would be later during the afternoon of that same day that the wishes of Luffy and Zoro would come true…

 **.o0O0o.**

It was because Usopp was on the crow's nest that he spotted the small boat with three occupants sailing towards them a few hundred meters away. Since there was a high possibility of running into El Drago while they sailed these waters, Luffy gave Usopp the task of acting as the lookout because he had the mot chances of seeing anything with his eyesight. Usopp had done so without issues because the crow's nest had enough space for him to tinker away with his things, which is also why he hadn't spotted them sooner.

"Oi!" He called down at the others after looking towards the direction from which the boat was coming from and spotting over the horizon a ship. He used his spyglass in order to make out more details. "Three guys coming our way on a boat! They don't look friendly at all! There's also a ship coming towards us from the south! I have also spotted El Drago and Golass!"

Luffy, who had been cuddling with Nami on his hammock, gently released her from his arms before stepping down to the main deck proper with a grin on his face. "I'll make it up to you later, Nami," he promised her with a laugh when he saw her disappointed pout.

She crossed her arms under her perky breasts, pushing them up in quite the enticing manner, and looked away petulantly. "You better!" She had been enjoying the skin ship a lot after all. The fact that the others didn't bat an eyelash at their relationship, other than some teasing looks of course, made things even better. Sunny was an animal and he couldn't care less even though it clearly confused him, Zoro simply couldn't care less and Usopp and Kaya had their own 'thing' going on.

Luffy chuckled at her with a fond shake of his head. "Go ahead and alter our course so we are heading directly towards them. After that, go and tell Kaya what's happening so she's not surprised by the loud noises we are going to be making," he ordered her and his lips twitched when she gave him a mock salute with a saucy smirk on her face before going to follow his instructions. _'Little minx.'_

Zoro, who had been meditating while sitting cross legged against the foremast, stood up and adjusted his swords to his haramaki as Luffy walked towards him. "How are we going to do this, Captain?" His expression was serious but there was a noticeable undertone of excitement in his voice. He was clearly looking forward to the incoming bout of violence.

Luffy smirked at him as the ship began to change directions and he stood watching the incoming sail boat and behind it, quite outside of the range of their cannons, the ship that could only belong to El Drago. "Usopp, you and I will be doing all the fighting. Sunny will stay here with Nami and Kaya. Nami has to man the ship and Kaya isn't ready for fights of this scale yet. As for Nina…" His smirk widened when he noticed the three occupants of the ship start to panic when they realized they had been noticed. "… Let her take of those fools. Anyone affiliated with El Drago is scum since he is the type to not care what he does as long as he gets his gold."

Zoro nodded in understanding. That meant no mercy today as well. He also quickly deduced that Luffy would be taking the both of them across the ocean using Geppo. While it embarrassed him that he had to be carried by Luffy, it also motivated him to master Soru so he could learn the air jumping technique.

Luffy looked up and shouted. "Usopp! You will snipe the cannon fodder from up there while Zoro and I fight against El Drago and Golass! Tell Nami to approach the ship when you see that everything is finished!"

Usopp took a hold of his flintlock rifle and sent a nod and a thumb up towards Luffy from where he was. "Understood, Captain!" He shouted back before he took his position and took aim towards the big ship that was now rapidly, in terms of naval speed of course, closing in using the iron sights of his long-range weapon in preparation for when they were finally within his range. _'Yup. I will use one of the spyglasses we have to make some kind of scope for this.'_

Because the sheer speed of _The Tempest,_ they quickly closed in on the small boat after they barely managed to turn around to try and escape from them. The panicked shouts of the three men quickly turned into screams of horror when Nina rose from the depths next to their ship but those were abruptly cut off when she lunged in and swallowed them in a single bite. He had only noticed recently, but Luffy couldn't help but marvel at the rate at which Nina was starting to grow. It probably had to do with all the moving around she did nowadays plus her constant eating. Luffy was sure she wasn't going to become as big as the Sea Kings of the Calm Belt, but he wouldn't surprised if she at least doubled the size she had when he tamed her.

It was just after Nina submerged again that Luffy noticed that the boat had another occupant. His eyebrows rose when he saw a small kid coming out from the single cabin of the boat. He could see that he was scared shitless as he trembled from head to toe while looking at the open sea around him. "Let's go!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Luffy grabbed Zoro by the back of his shirt and jumped up. It took him two applications of Geppo to reach the small boat and they landed behind the kid with a dull thud. Luffy released the hold he had on Zoro's shirt and he smiled down at the kid when he turned around to look at them with a pale face and wide, trembling eyes. He was a small boy with dark spiky hair. His outfit consisted of a light-yellow shirt with a tan brown waistcoat, a black cape with a flame design on the bottom and a red inside tied in a bow at the front. He had slightly torn brown shorts tied with an olive-green sash and brown shoes.

Luffy gave him a nonchalant two-fingered salute. "Yo."

"What's up with that lame greeting?!" He screamed while pointing at them and his face becoming a mix of fear and anger. "Tha-that Sea King ate the Hyena Three! How… how…" He began to hyperventilate as he slowly began to back away from them.

Zoro clicked his tongue in annoyance and crossed his arms over his shoulder. "Oi. Calm down, kid. At least you weren't eaten by her. Consider yourself lucky."

The boy looked at him blankly. "… He-Her?!"

Luffy nodded with a grin. "Yeah. Her name is Nina. She is a member of our crew and she doesn't take to kindly to those that approach our ship with less than friendly intentions," he said and he laughed at the kid's utter disbelief at that revelation. Luffy raised an eyebrow at him. "What's your name, kid? And what are you doing working for El Drago? You don't look the type, you know?"

Zoro snorted. That was an understatement if he ever heard one.

At his question, the kid got an angry look on his face as his fist tightened at his side. "My name is Tobio! And I'm not working for El Drago! That bastard kidnapped me and forced me to work for him when I accidentally ran into him after he killed the remnants of Woonan's crew! He has the map that leads to Gold Island and where Woonan hid his treasure!"

"Is that so?" Luffy asked rhetorically before smirking, knowing that Nami will be extremely happy when she found that Woonan's legend might be more than just that. "All the more reason to take him out then. Alright, kid. We are going to free you from him. Just stay close to our ship while we deal with him," he said before he grabbed Zoro again by the back of his shirt and prepared to jump.

"Wait!" Shouted Tobio and he elaborated when Luffy and Zoro looked at him curiously. "El Drago ate a Devil Fruit! Those are real. When he shouts, he can shoot beams of sound strong enough to destroy a ship! I saw him do it to the ship of Woonan's crew after he kidnapped me! And that guy Golass is no joke!"

Luffy grinned at him. "Thanks for the tip but knowing that won't change a thing. El Drago dies today."

Zoro also nodded. "If he proves to be a disappointment, Golass dies as well."

Under the wide eyes of Tobio, Luffy jumped towards the incoming ship and began to use Geppo to jump off the air towards it at incredible speeds while carrying a disgruntled Zoro. Tobio couldn't help gasping at the sight. _'Just who the heck are those guys?!'_ He thought and then yelped in fright when he caught sight of a glowing El Drago standing on the bow of the ship with his arms raised above his head. "Oh shit!"

With Luffy and Zoro…

The straw-hat wearing teen looked on curiously as a blue beam of sound was send towards them at high speeds. "That looks quite strong," he commented idly before grinning. "Buckle up, Zoro! I can see Golass from here! I think I can make it!"

Zoro turned towards his captain with questioning eyes. "What do you mean by-!" He was rudely interrupted when Luffy suddenly twirled around in the air to gather enough momentum to throw him towards the ship at about the same speed the blue beam was coming towards them. "Motherfu-!" That was the last thing Luffy heard from Zoro before his scream was cut off by the sound of the beam coming towards him.

Luffy could only laugh. "Tekkai!" He declared before cocking his right fist back as he continued hop off the air towards the beam. As a master of Tekkai, Luffy was capable of moving while using the technique and even use the other Rokushiki at the same time. As far as he knew, only his grandfather was capable of such a thing.

When it was about to hit him, Luffy lashed out with his Tekkai enhanced fist and a shockwave was produced from the point of collision between his fist and the sound beam as well as a loud, booming sound. The water below him was disturbed in such a why that it looked like a gigantic boulder had been thrown into it.

The sound beam was dispersed and Luffy continued using Geppo to approach the ship while looking at his hand with a disappointed expression on his face. "I barely felt that. I can already tell this is going to be boring," he mumbled to himself before he finally reached the ship. As he looked down while hopping in place, Luffy suddenly burst out laughing as he pointed at the tallest figure there looking up at him in shock. "You look more like a cat in person than you do in your poster! El Drago? More like El Gato!"

El Drago was a dark skinned, red-haired man that resembled a cat in appearance as noted by Luffy. As proof of his extensive love of gold, he wore shoulder pad armor made off an alloy of the stuff with a white shirt underneath and Luffy could see that he had sharp golden nails as well. On a side note, his ship was a fair representation of his personality and appearance, being covered with gold plating and having a lion for a figurehead.

When he heard the strange teen that had somehow blocked his sound beam saying that he looked like a cat, El Drago's shock was quickly substituted by anger. "Men! Shoot him down! Golass!" He turned towards his First Mate and his eyes widened when he saw him fighting who he recognized as 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro and clearly being overwhelmed quite easily by the user of the Santoryu. "What in the-!"

El Drago suddenly saw one of his men drop down to the deck with a bullet hole on his head. He could only watch with wide eyes as others members of his crew began to suffer the same fate despite scattering around and not staying still. "What the fuck is going on?!" He screamed as he began to glow with the power of his Goe-Goe no Mi while looking up at whom had to be the cause of what was happening.

Luffy smirked savagely down at him as he watched every single shot of Usopp's hit its mark. "That would be the work of my master gunner," he said before he was forced to jump higher off the air to evade another sound beam from El Drago. Luffy looked down at him chidingly. "That was rude. I have come for everything you own… and the bounty on your head. You are the kind of scumbag I can't stand sailing the seas doing as he wishes, you see?" He said as he landed in front of him.

Surrounded by the bodies of his dead crew, El Drago bared his teeth at him as he brandished his gleaming golden claws. "If you think I'll let you take my gold, you have another fucking thing coming! I will kill you!" The fact that El Drago cared more about his gold than the fate of his crewmates was further proof on the kind of man that he was.

Luffy rolled his eyes at him as he unsheathed his sabre. "For some reason… I highly doubt that," he said right before El Drago charged at him with the clear intention of reducing him to shreds using his claws. He smirked as he slowly got into his stance. "So, you think you can dance, huh?"

With Zoro…

As he used his two unnamed swords to block and counter Golass sword strikes with laughable ease, Zoro had a disappointed expression on his face. _'He might have a lot of physical strength but his technique is barely decent. I can even tell that he doesn't even believe in himself. Dammit! Another waste of time'_ He thought to himself as he blocked a two-handed vertical slash coming from above with his left sword and countered with a diagonal slash from his left sword.

"Gah!" Screamed Golass as he failed to evade the attack by jumping back. A deep cut appeared across his torso that began to bleed profusely. Since he was left handed, Golass grasped at it with his right hand as he glared t the man in front of him while grimacing in pain and panting. "Roronoa… Zoro…"

Zoro looked at him with apathetic eyes. "If you weren't the trash I know you to be, I would have given you the chance to perhaps find your drive to become a true swordsman," he said before his eyes tightened and he crossed his two swords across his chest and placed Wado Ichimonji horizontally behind them. "However, my captain gave his orders. You only have yourself to blame."

Golass' eyes widened as he was frozen still due to feeling Zoro's killing intent and bloodthirstiness being directed at him.

Zoro seemingly disappeared in a flicker of movement…

"Oni Giri!"

… and reappeared behind Golass with his arms extended at his sides, kneeling down and his head lowered. Blood spurted from Golass' torso as he fell to his knees and his sword fell the wood of the deck. His head then fell to the side of his body before his body slumped forward into the deck with a dull thud. A pool of blood quickly formed around him.

Zoro rose to his feet before he flicked the blood off his unnamed swords and sheathed them. He then took Wado Ichimonji from his mouth and flicked off the blood from its blade as well before sheathing it. Zoro removed his bandana from his head and tied it around his arm. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Am I going to find someone on the East Blue that can give me an actual challenge?" He wondered before he turned towards where Luffy was 'fighting' El Drago. He idly noticed that El Drago's crew was very much dead.

Back with Luffy…

The black-haired teen had a bored expression on his face as he blocked the claw strikes from El Drago using his sabre. _'Man… this guy is a_ fucking _joke. My spars with Zoro are more challenging. Oh well…'_ thought Luffy before he twisted his wrist so instead of blocking El Drago's next strike, he removed his right with one clean swipe.

El Drago looked at the sudden bloody stump with a blank expression on his face before it contorted in agony when blood began to spurt out of it. Luffy's eyebrows rose a bit when he began to glow in a way that told him that he was about to use the power of his Devil Fruit. El Drago looked like he was going to scream in pain as he held his right arm right beneath where the bleeding stump was.

Luffy didn't feel like listening to his creams so with a quick Soru and an horizontal slash from his sabre, El Drago's head was removed from his body. With a dispassionate expression on his face, Luffy ignored the pooling blood as he flicked off the blood from his sabre and sheathed it back. Taking care to not bloody his boots, Luffy approached El Drago's body and with a quick and efficient search found what had to be Woonan's map. A quick check confirmed it.

' _Nami is going to be extra happy,'_ he thought to himself with a silly grin as he rolled the parchment of the map back up. Ignoring the dead bodies littering the deck of El Drago's ship, he turned towards Zoro. "Let's go procure our loot. I'm sure El Drago has some treasure of his own and other resources that we can find useful. We'll look after Woonan's treasure after we are done here."

Zoro nodded in agreement and understanding of Luffy's instruction and reasoning. "Aye, aye, Captain," he said before vaguely motioning towards the dead bodies around them. "I suppose they are going to be Nina's meal, right? Shouldn't we deal with that first?"

Luffy tilted his head a bit, nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. Sure. We only need the heads of El Drago and Golass and we already made things easy four ourselves on that end," he said uncaringly before he recalled something as he gave El Drago's decapitated body a thoughtful look. _'I wonder where his Devil Fruit is going to reappear. It might have been weak but I'm sure it was more because of El Drago than the ability of the fruit itself.'_

With nothing else to say, the two of them got to work. They threw the dead bodies into the sea and before Luffy did so to El Drago's body, he made sure to procure everything made of gold that was on his person, which included his armor and his nails. By the time _The Tempest_ finished its approach, they had finished the gruesome task, located the treasury and got a rough idea of its worth. The only sign of the bloody massacre that took place on El Drago's ship was the blood pooled on its deck.

With the heads of El Drago and Golass inside a bag, Luffy easily jumped between ships and looked at the rest of his crew and Tobio. Nami only had an expectant look on her face, clearly wanting to know how much they gained not counting the bounties. Luffy knew that she had witnessed her fair shar of messed up stuff and with her greed being a prominent aspect of her personality, he wasn't surprised.

Even though she was somewhat successful in hiding it, Luffy could tell that Kaya was bothered by the sight of all that blood. Luckily, she wasn't looking at him, Zoro and/or Usopp in fear and/or disgust. As a matter of fact, she smiled at Usopp gratefully when the master gunner put his hand on her shoulder in a clearly supportive manner.

Sunny, when it became apparent that he wasn't really needed at the moment, yawned widely before lazily turning around and starting to make his way towards his room.

Tobio was just looking up at him with his expression and body frozen in shock.

"So…" began to say Nami with a clear air of eagerness and impatience around her.

Luffy grinned and lightly shook the bag contained the heads of the latest bounty he was planning on cashing in. "El Drago and Golass turned out to be the definition of easy money. Zoro and I dealt with them without breaking a sweat," he said before turning towards the master gunner and giving him a thumb up. "Nice work, Usopp! Not a miss and all perfect headshots. As expected from my master gunner!"

Usopp puffed up in pride as he returned Luffy's gesture with a grin and a thumb up of his own. "Happy to not disappoint, sir!"

Next to him, Kaya giggled in amusement as she shook her head fondly.

"You've got twenty-two million beries there, right?" Asked Nami for confirmation as she gave an upwards nod to the bag inside which Luffy was carrying the heads of El Drago and Golass. "Did you check their treasury? How much did they have? Any useful resources we can take for ourselves?"

Luffy chuckled at her eagerness and nodded in confirmation at her first question before answering the other ones. "Yes. Zoro and I checked it. It's mostly stuff made of gold but I'm pretty sure they are worth a lot of money. They had a decent amount of beries but I doubt it would be more than ten million. As for resources, Zoro and I only saw ship-repairing materials and tools, food, alcohol and weapons."

"About what we were expecting then. A bit more perhaps?" She asked and smiled when Luffy made a 'kind of' gesture with his unoccupied hand. "Alright. I'm pretty sure we are going to be taking it all. What is our next move?" She asked him with a certain pointedness.

Luffy smirked at her knowingly. "After we take move our stuff from El Drago's ship to _The Tempest,_ I was thinking about going on a treasure hunt," he said before pulling out Woonan's map and lobbing it at her. He grinned at the sight of ecstatic Nami greedily unfolding it and confirming that Woonan's legend was very much real and that they were going to find one third of the world's treasure now that they were in possession of his map.

Nami was sure that he also very much enjoyed the subsequent quick make out session. With a pleased expression and blush on her face, Nami pulled back and mock scowled at the silly expression on Luffy's face as she unwrapped her arms from around his neck and began to push him way. "Oi! What are you waiting for?! Get to work! My treasure is waiting for me!"

Luffy got back his mental faculties and lazily nodded while giving her a mock salute. "Yeah. Yeah. No need to be so pushy, geez," he said before turning towards the others, smirking when he saw the way Usopp and Kaya were blushing and glancing at each other. "Oi! Lovebirds! Let's get to it! You can try what Nami and I do later after we are done!"

Giving a loud 'Eep!', Kaya's entire face went beet red and she looked away from Usopp, refusing to look at him anymore.

Usopp, with his entire face just as red, looked ready to shove one of his guns up Luffy's ass before firing it multiple times.

Luffy's grin was unrepentant.

Tobio just continued on looking at them in shock and awe. _'Two of them dealt with El Drago and his crew like they were nothing! And not only do they have a Sea King as their pet but there's also a Menean Lion! Who the hell are these guys?!'_

That was when Nami spoke again. She pointed at the shortest person there. "Oh! Luffy. Before you go, what are going to do about Tobio?"

When he saw Luffy turning towards him with a thoughtful expression, Tobio couldn't help start trembling. Despite not treating him badly so far, he had just kind of witnessed these people massacre El Drago and his crew without a care in the world. He couldn't help being scared shitless. As he stood there waiting for the decision of whom he started to see was the captain of this crew of monsters, Tobio couldn't help but wish for his grandfather.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap for this chapter!**

 **I know I promised the 'Baratie' arc as well, but if I continued with what I had planned, the chapter would have ended pretty close to 50k words and while I like reading long chapters myself, that doesn't necessarily translate to enjoy writing them. Besides, I felt like it was a good point at which to end the chapter.**

 **Now, next chapter will most definitely include the 'Baratie' arc. With the amount of content there is, I'm pretty sure it will include only that and I won't be surprised if it turns out to be even longer than this chapter.**

 **Can anyone tell me in what famous fictional ship is** _ **The Tempest**_ **based? You'll get a cybermuffin. I think there are enough clues to figure it out.**

 **That's all from me for now. Remember. None of my stories are abandoned or on hiatus. They will be updated. I am a slave of my muse and she is a fickle thing. It wants what it wants and I just can't control it. Thankfully, this is just a hobby and I'm not planning to make a living out of it.**

 **Muffin out!**

 **PD: Any fans of Game of Thrones here? Am I the only one in that weird place in which you can't wait for the next episode but isn't ready to see the nuch of characters that are surely to die in the incoming battle? If you have a comment regarding that, try not to give out spoilers for those who have not seen the series (Even if there's no excuse at this point) and have the intention of watching it.**


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